In a Faraway Land
by How-not-to-do-something
Summary: On the other side of the pond, a new threat rises. Rated M for language, violence, poor writing, racism, and language again.
1. Chapter 1

**A/N: Bada bing bada boom, here it is, the sequel to Lost in Transition. Bet you weren't expecting this particular idea were you?**

 **Tykkimikk, this is what I meant by jumping the shark. Acidika, this is why I asked. Everyone else, here's the sequel you asked for but definitely didn't want.**

 **Before I begin, there's something I want to make clear first. I have no problem with cursing, or sentence enhancers if you prefer. But there are a few words that I simply do not like, and I refuse to use them. Unfortunately the Boondocks is filled with one thats on my list. I don't like it, but I also want to stay true to the show (and to a lesser extent the comics). So, in its place will be n*****. Whine about it all you want, its my choice.**

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Koko lowered the phone, a distant look on her features.

"Rock, I have a question for you" she said lowly. The girl tilted her head, frowning. Adopting her own, Koko showed her the email.

"Does this name mean anything to-" she stopped mid sentence, making Jonah look over himself. He saw Black Rock Shooter's expression, always calm, always reserved, twist into burning fury.

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 _Woodcrest, Maryland, two weeks earlier..._

The phone rang.

The afro haired youth stared at the quaint looking digital phone, one of tens of millions that existed throughout America. Grey and black plastic, and a green display. It wasn't very fancy looking, but neither was it cheap. Middle of the road, bought by one that didn't want to shell out too little or too much money for their phone service. Perfectly average, unlike its owner or its owner's family. Then again, what is normal?

The phone rang again.

The youth watched it intently, one hand marking the page of the book he was reading. He didn't look like much; african american, a medium sized afro, and a grim countenance. Decent looking, so claimed the few women who were willing to give opinions on his appearance. He wore a plain tee shirt, jeans, and his flannel. Unusual attire for ten p.m. on a week night, but he had his reasons.

The phone rang for a third time.

"Huey answer the damn phone!" bellowed an older man from the other room.

Huey Freeman, age fourteen, picked up the phone.

"Hello" he greeted neutrally. Bereft of emotion, the boy's voice could've belonged to a robot.

"Oh shit, I thought yo dumb ass would never pick up" exclaimed the relieved voice from the other end, the same voice Huey had been expecting for the past three hours.

"Where are you and what trouble are you in?" he asked mechanically.

"Shit man, some weird shits goin down, you gotta help me" the younger voice, younger than Huey, quickly rattled off. It perplexed the youth; he jumped straight to the point instead of quipping out an insult.

"I will. Where are you" Huey insisted.

"At the park. Hurry n*****" he answered fast, the line clicking dead.

Huey lowered the phone, his brow wrinkling in thought. His brother rarely called him unless he was in deep trouble, his own headstrong ways kept him away until the situated boiled over. To call him meant that it was Bad. To call him and forgo their ritual of insults, meant it was Beyond Bad. For a moment he wondered what could've happened that would cause such a situation. Whatever the situation was, it demanded haste. And protection.

Huey set his book (Nighteen Eighty Four, he was on a kick for those type of novels lately) aside and rose from the comfortable chair, where he had been keeping vigil over the phone for the past two hours. Taking just a moment to stretch out his sore muscles, he walked from the living room to the front door. His ears told him the other occupant of the house was still where he was from earlier, doing something in the kitchen.

"Where you goin boy!?" the older african american man bellowed. He was out of his sight but Huey wasn't out of his, apparently.

"Riley needs a ride Grandad" he called back, stopping by the cupboard near the door to open the top drawer.

"Damn that boy, always staying out late" the old man, his and his brother's grandfather, irately complained to himself. True name Robert Freeman, he went by Grandad by the boys.

"I'll be back in a little while" Huey called out, doing a brass check on the glock before flipping the safety on and stuffing it in his belt.

"You better. Its bad enough with one little n***** running around raisin hell" Grandad yelled, largely to himself. Huey wasn't entirely sure what he was up to, nor did he care. Slipping his shoes on, he left the house.

The darkened street loomed just beyond, with only a few lights from similarly awake people's houses bravely standing out. Looking out, he mentally ran the numbers for how much electricity was being wasted by the mostly affluent and mostly white neighborhood. He forced the thought (and its related anger) to the back of his mind. Later he could rail against the ignorant masses, but for now he needed all of his attention on the matter at hand.

His bicycle was where he left it, chained inside the garage. After getting the chain off, he mounted the bike (making sure the riding pegs he put on the other day were still attached first) and sped off. Keeping his speed slow, he scanned the road for any obstacles. Nothing larger than a discarded soda can crossed his path. Part of his attention was fixated on listening; there weren't many cops in town, but it paid to be vigilant. To say nothing of any defense fixated homeowner that could misinterpret a black boy riding a bike at night in various creative ways.

The bulk of his thoughts, however, were still going over the brief phone conversation. Riley almost always spouted off an insult or a jab whenever he and Huey spoke to each other. And he very rarely asked for help, much less pleaded for it. What he kept coming back to was the boy's tone. Something he saw only a few times across his entire life, something that had Huey on edge enough to grab a gun.

 _Fear._

For the life of him Huey couldn't figure out what could've scared his brother so badly. Though lacking in common sense (among many other things), he had to give grudging respect for his courage. To hear that shorn away was disquieting. Seeing it, which he would shortly, would be a new experience for the youth. The weight of the two pound gun gave him uncomfortable reassurance in the face of his suppressed anxiety.

Woodcrest's city park wasn't very far from his home, probably a half hour ride during the day. Huey managed to cross the distance about forty five minutes, going slow in case of obstacles and stopping a few times when he spotted a cop. Nevertheless, he reached the park rather quickly, considering the circumstances. Stopping to check his watch, he felt a degree of pride at his time.

He dismounted his bike to pull it into a bush, taking care to keep it out of sight. Once finished, he glanced at the darkened city park, a handful of street lamps providing some illumination. Hardly enough to beat back the oppressive darkness, they merely kept it at bay. As far as he could see, there was nothing or no one in sight. That didn't mean he was alone however. Inhaling deeply, he entered the park.

Shivers crawled up Huey's spine, leaving goosebumps in their wake. His instincts were warning him of danger lurking behind every corner, hiding in every shadow. The rational part of his mind beat it down, using logic to show how foolish those thoughts were. Nonetheless, it did warn him to be careful. He heeded both parts, keeping his pace at a sedate walk to scan over everything that could be a threat.

Though it was dark, Huey had been through the park numerous times. Enough that he had an idea of his location, roughly in the center of the square area. Stopping by a tree, he swept his afro'd head around, looking for Riley. Or a threat, either or. Despite a nearby streetlamp he saw little. His ears picked up nothing but the rustle of leaves in the weak wind at first, but when a much more intent rustle reached him he looked up.

"Huey" a whispered voice called out. He furrowed his brow; he knew that voice.

"Riley? What're you doing up there?" he asked softly.

"Had to hide, the fuck else was I gonna do?" the speaker angrily whispered back. Huey shook his head.

"Whatever. Get down from there and lets go" he said to him.

"Hold up. Is that bitch still around?" Riley whispered. Huey blinked; the fear was in his voice again.

"What bitch?" he asked.

" _That bitch_!" he quietly yelled.

"Its just you and me here" he said back.

"You sure?" he demanded quietly. For good measure Huey swept the area again, finding no one else, let alone a bitch.

"I'm sure. Now get down from there" he commanded.

More rustling came from above, starting towards the center of the tree branch and working its way back. Huey watched its progress, every few seconds searching around. Every time it was the same result: they were alone. No one else, especially not a female. He wondered what this hypothetical woman did to scare him so badly. The memory of Luna bubbled up, involuntarily bringing on a shudder.

Where he was, the streetlamp's light was faint. Not so faint that be couldn't see the younger boy begin to crawl down the tree, shimmying along at a snail's pace. Name brand sneakers that his favorite idol of the month wore, followed by a pair of blue jeans a size too large. After that came a black windbreaker, a white tank top flashing underneath it. No hat was on his head (Huey suspected there was one not too long ago), so his cornrows hairstyle was visible. The black child finally jumped to the ground with an oomph. He dusted himself before facing the youth, his relived face bearing an uncanny resemblance to his own.

"You a lifesaver n*****" Riley, Huey's twelve year old brother, exclaimed happily, before suddenly clamping his mouth shut. He nodded in acknowledgement.

"What are you doin here?" Huey questioned immediately. Riley blinked, caught by surprise.

"Doesn't matter, now lets go" he replied fearfully.

"Not before you tell me. You said earlier you were going to hang out with Ed and Gin" he stubbornly questioned.

"Theres a psycho bitch on the loose, we have to get the fuck outta here" he insistently urged. Huey stayed exactly where he was with his arms crossed, prompting Riley to sigh and lightly slap his face.

"Alright alright. I was meetin some n****s here for a, um, a business proposition" he reluctantly admitted.

"What kind of proposition" Huey pressed, unmoving.

"A, uh..." Riley trailed off, looking away embarrassedly. He narrowed his eyes at his younger brother.

"If its drugs, or anything to do with drugs, I'm leaving you here" he threatened. The boy's own eyes widened in shock.

"No! Its not drugs, I swear" he said desperately. Huey could tell he wasn't lying, not this time.

"Good. I don't wanna get shot at by an angry n**** because you were being a dipshit" he spat. Riley shook his head frantically.

"Yeah alright, now can we fuckin leave now?!" he pleaded. Huey nodded, glancing at his watch.

The dial, faintly visible, read eleven on the dot. He looked back up in time to see his brother's widen in fright. He'd seen enough horror movies to know what was going to happen next. That by looking back he was going to lay eyes on a monster, a killer, or both. He would look, draw the gun that was still tucked in his belt, and yell for Riley to run. Neither of them would leave the park alive, he was sure of it. But Huey slowly turned around anyway, forcing his fear down. Whatever was going to happen, would happen.

He heard it before he saw it. An unassuming sound, out of place for the circumstances. It was the sound of footsteps. Not loud ones, just the flat tap of loafers on pavement. It started quiet, but grew louder at a worrying pace. In the pressing darkness he saw nothing, noting another streetlamp a shirt distance away, telling him where his brother saw it. Or her, in this case. He made an estimate of its location and judged it close, chilling his spine. A few feet away he finally saw the silhouette of the being, a moment before it entered the light.

What he saw was not what he was expecting.

Approaching them was a girl, no older than fifteen. Unusually pale skin was the first thing he noted after her odd black dress, with frills tapering off at the end of her skirt. A small white bow was hanging off the side. Her legs were covered in a skintight garment that ended above her ankles, showing what looked like a pair of loafers. Two small pointed objects akin to stubby wings behind her bobbed with her walking, and two more objects that looked like ribbed horns rose from the top of her scalp. Her black hair was long, with several ringlets leading down her shoulders.

"Fuck" he heard Riley whimper. The being stopped ten feet away, coolly regarding the boys.

Standing in the light, Huey saw two other details that made his blood run cold. The first was her hands, or what would be hands on a normal human being. Instead they were black, and slightly reflective. They were also much larger, with elongated fingers ending in what were likely claws. The second was her eyes. The irises were a brilliant shade of green, showing small inlaid gears in them. Nothing but guarded curiosity showed in those neon orbs.

Forcing himself to breath, Huey said "Who are you" to the being. For several seconds, it continued to stare at them.

"Who are you" she repeated, her voice meticulous and flat. It brought another chill to the youth.

"My name is Huey Freeman. Yours is?" he asked again, ignoring his brother's tightening grip on his shoulder. The girl tilted her head to the side.

"Huey Freeman" she echoed again, mulling the words over.

She began to walk again, going closer to the boys. Riley suddenly sprinted off, sputtering in terror. Huey needed all of his willpower to stay put and not run after him. Even so, he breathed raggedly, trying to show no fear. The corners of the girl's mouth twitched upwards, telling him he was failing. She stopped once more about five feet from him. All the while, her bizarre eyes didn't leave him. By some act of God, he stayed where he was.

"You're afraid" she said pronouncedly.

"I am" he said back, his tone somehow level. Something akin to amusement graced her features.

Several more seconds passed before she held out one of her arms to the side, her clawed hand flat. The digits curled inwards, something starting to glow in her hand. Once the fist closed, flashing lights shot out from both ends. The bottom one ended a few inches above the ground, while the top kept going, a part of it shooting off. It grew larger and more detailed, with the lights morphing into black colored metal. In a few seconds there was an intricately designed scythe in her hand. Huey could only stare in shock.

The girl twirled around the heavy weapon like it didn't weigh a thing. Since he was so close, he could hear a whoosh in the air as it lazily swung. All the while, she kept staring at him with a bemused smile. Her features suddenly twisted into a sneer, the scythe going to the ground in the same moment. Huey reflexively jumped back with a yelp. He immediately went for the gun, drawing it as the large swiped at him, missing by inches.

He needed a second to regain his balance, lining up the gun's sights at her at the same time. She stayed where she was with the weapon twirling once more, only switched to her other hand. The end of Huey's glock trembled a little, raw fear clawing at the youth. She smirked, straightening up her stance and flipping the scythe so the top spine was touching the ground.

"You fight when you should run. I like you" she complimented, startling him.

"What?" was the most coherent reply he could come up with.

"Those two back there tried to run. That one behind you ran. But not you. You grab a weapon" she explained. Still panting, Huey gave her a confused look.

"Why are you looking at me like that?" she asked him, tilting her head again.

"You like fighting" he said at last. She nodded.

"Whats your name?" he asked her guardedly. She leveled her own questioning look at him.

"Dead Master" she answered, making him blink.

"Dead Master? Oh...kay" he replied confusedly. She glanced around, letting her attention slip away from him. It occurred to him that if he was going to shoot, now would be the chance.

"Where is this place?" she asked. Against his better judgment, Huey lowered the gun.

"I don't suppose the terms Woodcrest, America, or Earth mean anything to you" he went on.

"No" was her curt reply. He quietly sighed, coming to a conclusion.

"You should come with me" he said at last. Her unnerving green eyes swiveled back to him.

"Why?" she questioned flatly.

"You mentioned there were two others that tried to run. I'm assuming they're dead" she nodded, no emotion beyond curiosity showing "then that means law enforcement will be here. They find you, and kill you" he explained grimly. Contrary to his expectations, she smiled.

"I'd like to see them try" she said viciously.

"They will. Trust me" Huey pressed. The scythe twirled once more.

"Thats just the problem. I have no reason to trust you at all. However..." Dead Master trailed off in thought, looking away contemplatively.

"However?" he repeated. She looked back at him with a small grin.

"If you can help me, I'll come with you" she offered. He raised an eyebrow.

"With what?" Huey questioned suspiciously. She smiled conspiratorially.

"I'll tell you later. First, you want me to come with you" Dead Master reminded. Huey scowled.

"I don't like unknown clauses" he stated sourly.

"I don't care" she said back. He lightly slapped his face.

"Lose the scythe first" he said, dragging his palm down. The weapon began to flash lights, in seconds dispersing into nothingness.

"What?" she demanded.

"How did you do that?" he questioned at last.

"I just do. Your people can't?" she questioned back. He shook his head, making her raise her own eyebrow in a very human fashion.

"Your kind are strange" she commented, ignorant of the irony. He sighed once more, reluctantly placing the gun back in his belt. His brushing fingers made him coldly realize that he never flipped the safety off.

"Follow me" he told her.

Huey started walking, painfully aware of the girl walking after him. The memory of the weapon she created out of lights was thoroughly scarred onto his brain. He did his best to hide it, but he was frightened of the otherworldly girl behind him. And he was certain she knew that too. There wasn't anything he could do about it though. He pushed it out of his mind for the time being, instead he tried remembering which bush he stashed his bike in. The girl watched him intently as he pawed around the thicket. Finally he found it, yanking it out with a grunt.

"What is that?" Dead Master inquired.

"My bike. You want a ride or do you want to follow?" he asked back.

"Follow" she answered flatly.

He debated for several seconds whether to walk it or to ride it back. He was certain she could move fast (like any cinema villain) but he wasn't sure how fast. The possibility of riding off as fast as he could pedal crossed his mind, only to be countered by the knowledge of what he told her. She knew his name; if he ran, it would be just a matter of time before she tracked him down. When that happened, he didn't want to imagine the consequences.

Deciding on the latter, Huey mounted the bike and shoved off. He started off at a slow pace, barely enough to keep it upright. Glancing back at her, he found her almost beside him. Surprised but not too shocked, he kept going. Experimentally he increased his speed. Dead Master kept pace with him easily. Frowning, he pedaled faster. She did the same, the taps of her shoes on the pavement becoming indistinguishable from each other. He slowed down a notch, briefly letting her pass him. It came as a surprise to him to see the back of her dress was exposed, the two winglike objects he spotted earlier actually sprouting from her back.

Compared to the trip to the park, the trip back went by much faster. Partially because there were fewer people out and about that he had to be careful with. Mainly because he was unwilling to be alone with the girl any longer than necessary. He ended up crossing the distance in a little over a half hour, just a few minutes longer than a daytime ride. Unlike before, he felt no pride at his speed.

Dead Master's tapping slowed down in time with his movement. Coasting up to the garage of the nice house his grandfather owned, Huey sent a covert glance at the girl. He saw that she was craning her head to eye the house, either appraising it or searching for threats. It could've been both for all he knew. The second was that she didn't even look winded. It was easily a three mile run, yet she was breathing a bit more than before.

"This is the place" he told her, kicking the stand up and chaining the bike up. He was paranoid about thieves, though it was the least of his problems at this point.

"I see" she murmured. Her eyes left the building to track him, leaving the bike alone to go to the front door. After a moment she walked after him.

The door was locked, but Huey had a key. A couple of seconds later and he entered the brightly lit house, blinding after the dark of night. Dead Master had to block the light, her eyes hurting. Once they adjusted she saw the youth waiting, holding the door open for her. She felt a degree of trepidation at the entire affair, yet she was confident in her abilities. If something came her way she could deal with it. Cracking her neck, she walked into the light.

"Boys!" his grandfather shouted. Huey shut the door behind her and took a deep breath, facing forward with confidence he didn't have. Stomps sounded out, revealing an old man with balding white hair and glasses wearing a night robe coming around a corner. His direction was clear.

"Now what have I said about goin out at night? I don't wanna hear bout you little-" he stopped mid-rant, noticing the pale girl beside Huey giving him a strange look.

"Huey, the fuck is this? And where the fuck is Riley?" Robert demanded.

"Grandad, this is Dead Master. She's an alien" Huey said flatly, drawing the strange look to him. Robert was still for a moment.

"What've I told you bout making shit up?" he asked irately.

"Can you do that scythe thing?" Huey asked her, stepping away.

Dead Master raised her clawed hand and clenched it into a fist. Flashing lights ran from her hand, turning into glossy black metal. In seconds there was an ornate weapon in her hand, the tiny walkway space just big enough to accommodate it. She let the top tilt forward, coming dangerously close to Robert. The man yelped and jumped back, far faster than his age would suggest. His wide eyes swiveled from the girl to Huey and back again.

"What the fuck?" he sputtered. Dead Master tilted her weapon back the other direction, letting it rest against her shoulder.

"What's an alien?" she asked them.

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 **A/N: And so it begins. I fully expect this to bomb. For the sake of my wittle feewings, prove me wrong. Or not, up to you.**

 **And before anyone asks, I'm plotting this to be about 8-9 chapters long. And yes, Koko & friends will pop in. When, I leave to your imagination.**


	2. Chapter 2

**A/N: this should go without saying, but I own nothing here. If I did this would be premiering (and bombing) on Adult Swim by now.**

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* _click_ *

"Huey's log, day three since contact" he began. The youth lowered the recorder for a moment, wondering how he was going to explain his findings.

"I have continued to observe the subject, self identified as 'Dead Master' when questioned originally, in my pursuit of knowledge" Huey spoke, glancing over to the girl.

She was in the same spot as she was twenty minutes earlier, the same for nearly two days. In the living room of the house, hunched over his grandfather's laptop. Sounds of clacking keys continued, almost like clockwork. He didn't want to think about how much data she was burning through (he would bear the brunt of the chastising in any case), instead focusing on what kind of information she was actually searching for.

"Dead Master continues to explore the internet. Her ability to read english has ascended from practically zero to approximately a middle school level, making this task much easier. The information she is searching for has covered many subjects, ranging from maps to culture" he explained. Sitting on the couch while she was nestled in a chair, he pondered what to say next. The bright sunlight streaming through the window enticingly beckoned him outdoors.

"I am now certain that the gap between our respective species is much smaller than I initially assumed" he went on.

"Will you shut up?" Dead Master said irritably, her eyes not leaving the screen. Huey lowered the recorded, making sure it was off first.

"This is a first contact scenario. I have to document everything" he defended.

"Go document somewhere else" she waved a clawed hand at him, one that tore up a spare sheet when she slept on the couch, much to Robert's chagrin.

"You're the subject of the scenario, what am I supposed to do?" Huey demanded.

"Leave me be. And stop showing me those boring pictures" she suggested. He scowled.

"Those 'boring pictures' are some of the greatest examples of art in mankind's history" he said testily, his hidden anger starting to boil over.

"They're boring, and I don't care about them" she dismissed. Huey bolted from his seat and stomped out of the room.

For the past three days she had given him no end of grief. From causing Riley to faint when he returned home at last to shrugging off all his attempts to show her the extent of human culture, it had been one struggle after another. He knew he was just letting his frustration get to him, but it was hard to ignore it. Forgive and forget was hard to apply to an alien that constantly made a nuisance of herself, never mind how she could kill him and everyone else in a several square mile radius if she truly wanted to.

"Hows it goin n****?" Riley asked, with Robert staring at him as well. The two family he had were camped in the kitchen, awaiting any sign of good news.

"How do you think?" he said darkly, going for the fridge. Days earlier they (him) tried experimenting to see what the girl could eat, if anything. After ten minutes he figured out she could ingest anything they could, somewhat surprisingly.

"That bad huh" Robert quietly commented. They held off on the questions while Huey made himself a bowl of cereal, ignoring the clock that claimed it was pushing noon. Once he sat down they both hovered around him.

"Huey, we need to talk" Robert began carefully.

"If you want her out, you tell her" he said instantly.

"We gotta do something, that crazy bitch'll kill us" Riley exclaimed. Unlike the two of them, he had firsthand experience of what she could do. Although he never did fully explain what he was up to in the park.

"I know" he muttered angrily.

"Look, I know you don't like it one bit, but I think this time you really ought to-" Robert started.

"No" was his reply.

"We can't deal with this shit on our own. We're in over our heads" Riley protested. He sent a scowl his way.

"You. Making sense" he said sourly, making his brother scowl himself.

"Listen to me n****, you can act all high and mighty, but you don't know what you doin anymore than we do" he said angrily.

"And what should I do? Hand her over to the government? We'll spend the rest of our lives in prison, and thats if they're feeling merciful" he spat back.

"Boys boys" Robert tried to sooth.

The arguing would've gone on if footsteps didn't reach them. All three turned to see Dead Master calmly enter the kitchen. Ignoring all three of them, she walked to the fridge to open it up. She rooted around for a few seconds before pulling back to reveal her gains: an orange. For reasons none of them could explain, she had a thing for the fruit. She stopped long enough to fetch a plate before retreating back to the living room.

"This is some bullshit" Riley muttered once she was out of sight.

"No shit. We gotta tell someone else" Robert agreed.

" _No"_ Huey repeated, drawing both of their ire.

"And why the fuck not?" he demanded angrily.

"As I just said, if the government finds her we're all fucked" he explained testily. Robert face palmed irritably.

"I'm not sayin we go to the government, I'm sayin we find someone who can help with this shit. Someone who won't freak the fuck out at seein some alien n****" he explained himself.

"Name one person that can do that Grandad. Name one" Huey challenged. The old man had no answer.

"How bout Ed? That n**** won't snitch" Riley suggested after a few seconds.

"That's the dumbest idea I've heard all day" Huey retorted.

"Then how bout mister Wuncler himself? That old bastard can tell all those government agents and shit to go to hell" Robert said after a moment.

"Again, fuck no. He'll probably hand her over anyway for the reward money, assuming he doesn't find a way to exploit her first" he shot down. Groaning, the youth pushed his bowl aside and let his forehead tap the counter.

"Neither of you get it" his muffled voice said. Old man and boy alike scowled at him.

"The fuck you talkin bout?" Riley demanded. Huey lifted his head and sighed.

"She's an alien" he said.

"You said that already, whats your point?" Robert questioned.

"If there's one, there's more. How well do you think they'll react to finding out one of their own got experimented on? Or killed, or worse?" he asked them both. When neither answered, he pressed on.

"What I'm trying to do is to find out why Dead Master came to Earth. If she's an ambassador, or a scout, or whatever, I'll convince her to tell her race to leave this planet be. If she just got stranded, then I'll make sure her race has no reason to invade. I'm not playing nice cause I want to, I'm trying to prevent an alien species from wiping us out" Huey explained flatly. Riley and Robert stared at him.

"What" the former said.

"I'm trying to stop a war from ever happening. The more people get involved, the harder that is to do. Plus, three people can keep a secret better than four. Or five, or six thousand. That simple enough for you?" he asked them again.

"That doesn't change the fact that you don't know what the fuck you're doing" Robert answered. It was Huey's turn to face palm.

"I know goddamnit" he muttered.

"I think Wuncler is the best bet anyway. I know you hate him, but he's more powerful than anyone else we know" Robert spoke.

"Yeah yeah, he can tell all those pigs to fuck off" Riley added.

"And showing him the greatest discovery in human history is a great idea" Huey said drily.

"Maybe. If we tell him that he can kiss all his money goodbye if we get caught, that might help" Robert suggested. Huey blinked.

"I...didn't consider that" he admitted.

"Ha!" Riley spat at him triumphantly, getting another scowl sent at him.

The doorbell rang. Huey, Riley, and Robert looked blankly at the direction of the door. For several seconds none of them reacted, the sound catching them off guard. The next ring saw them all scramble out of the kitchen as fast as their legs could carry them. Riley and Robert going to the front door to answer whoever it could be, while Huey went for the living room to stop the girl from investigating herself. Each one mumbled "shit" or some variant of it under their breaths.

Robert yanked the door open, showing one of the last people he wanted to see at the moment.

"What up n****?" greeted a large box. It was jostled to the side by the large black arms encircling it, showing the face of a familiar UPS employee.

"Otis? The fuck you doin here!?" Robert demanded, strongly tempted to slam the door shut in the face of the ex rapper. Otis 'Thugnificent' Jenkins laughed.

"You gone senile you old bastard? Here's that Amazon shit you ordered" he explained. Shoving the large cardboard box at him, Robert briefly struggled with the weight before he had a solid grip.

"So what up n****?" he asked. Both of Freemans exchanged nervous looks that did not go unnoticed.

"Oh, um, we's bout to, um" Riley stuttered out, his mouth working faster than his brain.

"We're cleaning up the house is all" Robert said quickly. Otis frowned.

"The fucks gotten into you guys? You got drugs or somethin in there?" he questioned.

"No, nonono, just cleanin up is it" Robert hurriedly insisted. Otis's frown deepened, but he did back up a step.

"Whatever. I don't want in on whatever you guys are up to anyway. Later n****s" he said, turning to walk back to his awaiting van. No sooner did they sigh in relief did the rapper-turned-postman get intercepted.

"Oh shit" Riley whispered once he saw who it was. Three people, to be exact.

"Hiya mister Jenkins" said the youngest of the family trio. Jazmine Dubois, age thirteen, with tanned skin and a large afro, even larger than Huey's.

"What up Jaz? And the Dubois's too" Otis greeted the other two.

The first was a white woman, Sarah Dubois. Blonde, fair skin, and a generally friendly attitude. She waved at him as she came up to her daughter, her husband a few steps behind her. Tom Dubois, also a genial sort of person, a defense lawyer and caring father/husband. Unlike them, his skin had the dark tone of someone of african persuasion, though nothing in his manner hinted at it. He, dressed casually instead of his preferred suit, was carrying a box to their door.

"Morning Otis. How are you?" Tom greeted him.

"Same old. In line for a promotion soon. Whats in the box?" he asked, gesturing.

"Its that tool set that Robert lent me a week ago, I'm returning it" he answered.

"Watch yourself, they're up to some weird sh-stuff in there" Otis corrected himself, mindful of the young girl a few feet away.

"What kind of weird stuff?" Sarah asked.

"No idea. But I got a bad feelin bout it, so I'm gettin outta here before I get wrapped up in it anyway" he answered, taking off as soon as he was finished. Five pairs of eyes watched him climb back in his truck and pull away. Two of those were relived, but what pulled up to the curb, the air itself vibrating with the pulse of the bass system, took it away instantly.

The black Escalade pulled to a stop and killed its motor, the teeth rattling bass ceasing with it. Its driver and passenger doors opened at the same time, showing two thirtiesh men in black outfits. The driver had a beanie (with tufts of red hair poking underneath it) and a tank top, the passenger had an overcoat and a red, white, and blue band on to go with his glasses. Both were white, and both were obviously armed.

"Yo Riley!" the beanie, a certain Edward Wuncler the III, yelled. His friend, Gin Rummy, waved as well. The boy he was shouting for heard a loud crash from behind him, preventing him from responding immediately.

To compound the disaster, the sixth on a list of ten people they didn't want to have anything to do with entered the two Freeman's field of view: an old and thick black man, darker than everyone present by a wide margin. One of his eyes bulged out strangely, and his greying hair was nearly gone. On his body was a cheap outfit from a thrift store. On his face was a suspicious expression at the odd gathering.

"Sarah. Tom" he acknowledged to the parents, the level of respect for the later noticeably lower. Even with just a couple of words, his thick southern drawl was evident.

"Rukus? What're you doin here?" Robert demanded, glaring. Uncle Rukus (no relation) leveled his own glare at the old man.

"Ya'll n****s are up to sumthin, I'm hear to find out what" he answered, forgetting the young girl in plain sight. Her mother clamped her hands over the girl's ears, internally finding it silly since she knew that she'd heard far worse. Robert did a double take.

"What?" he said, Riley gave both of them questioning looks.

"Couple days ago there was a double murder in da local park. I know you n****s had sumthin to do wit it" he accused. Both of the men glanced askance at the Freemans.

"I heard about that, it was on the news. Why do you think they were involved Rukus?" Tom asked.

"Do ya need ta ask?" he laconically answered.

"Man, buncha weird shits goin down lately" Gin said to himself, shaking his head.

"Yeah. You think our homeboy was involved or some shit?" Ed asked him.

"Fuck should I know? The n****s right there, go ask him" Gin said, gesturing at the boy. Ed, Gin, Rukus, and Tom all began to walk towards the two, Sarah and Jazmine joining after a second of thought. The blood in both of their faces drained.

Murphy's law: anything that can go wrong, will go wrong, at the worst possible time.

Footsteps came from behind them, too light and too loud to be Huey. Eyes going wide in terror, Robert and Riley turned their heads at the same time. Dead Master purposefully strode their way, with no sign of the middle Freeman. Riley quickly moved out of the way, his fright briefly overcoming his senses. Robert frantically glanced at him, but he remembered what became of his sheets. Grimacing, he stepped aside as well.

The ad-hoc party of six stopped in their tracks as they saw the odd girl for the first time. For her part, Dead Master raised one of her hands to block the bright sun. Once her eyes adjusted, she lowered her hand realized there was a small group of people in front of her, all of them staring. Flanking her, the old man and the boy were both wearing shocked expressions, also staring. A bird made a tweeting sound a short distance away, the quiet was so great.

"Who duh hell is this?" Rukus finally broke the stifling silence. The gaggle of onlookers looked away almost at least once, making an effort out of moving around.

"I am-" the girl started, a hand clamping over her mouth before she could answer.

"Oh this is Dorothy, a foreign exchange student we're hosting" Robert hurriedly explained, with a complete lack of sincerity. The flat looks on everyone's faces showed how believable he came off as.

"Yeah yeah! But she's not all that social and shit" Riley helpfully added.

"A foreign exchange student?" Sarah asked disbelievingly. They both nodded frantically, the girl's eyes narrowing.

"Those look like horns" Ed commented, crossing his arms and frowning. One of her arms came up in order to wrap her black hand around Robert's forearm.

"Just some fashion choice, you know, everyone has their own st-t-t-tyyyyyeee" his face contorted on pain. His hand left her mouth as she forced his arm away from her. She stared drily at his agony laden expression for a moment before she shoved him away. A quick glance in the other direction made Riley back up several steps.

"So, Dorothy is it?" Tom said, being the first to approach her. She let go of Robert's arm, leaving him whimpering in pain. He managed to conceal his leeriness, putting on a friendly smile.

"No" she said back.

"Oh? Okay, whats your name young lady?" he asked friendlily, the ad-hoc group discreetly clustering around him to watch the exchange.

"Its Dead Master" she answered flatly. To his credit, he did keep his composure.

"Oh. Um. Alright. Miss Master, I'm Tom Dubois. Pleasure to meet you" he recovered, sticking out a hand. She stared questionably at it for a moment, trying to decide what to do with it. After a tense moment she mimed him, holding out her own glossy metal palm. When he grabbed it to give a vigorous shake, he was close to losing the limb. The only reason he didn't was that he let go immediately. He smiled, almost convincingly.

"By the way, what are those glove things you're wearing?" Tom asked her, pointing at her hands.

More footsteps plodded to the door, interrupting the man. Huey half staggered into the walkway, gasping for air. Clutching his arm, he looked up fearfully to see the gathering assembled about literally at his door. His eyes went wide, blazing with shock. More than a little fear was in his features. Tom leaned to the side and raised an eyebrow at the youth's disheveled appearance, making the girl turn as well.

"Huey? What happened to you?" he asked. The group peeked as well, all showing their own form of curiosity.

"I kicked him" Dead Master answered. He glanced at her strangely before turned back to him.

"Miser Dubois, there are weird things happening. For your sake, I advise you and your family to leave right now" Huey wheezed.

"Why?" he asked, instead of leaving. Sensing movement, the girl looked back to the group, finding a bushy haired young girl right beside her. The little girl gently made her way around the pale one, not noticing the latter's questioning stare.

"Are you alright Huey?" Jazmine asked. The youth in question groaned, letting his head drop.

"Huey?" she asked again concernedly.

"Whats the matta wit dat n****? Tell me he's dyin" Rukus asked hopefully.

Groaning more, the afro'd youth stood back up straight. Eighteen eyes could see how much effort he was putting into it. Once up, they could also see an imprint on his shirt, roughly in the center of his chest. It was just a smudge of grime, approximately in the shape of a small foot. Only one of the onlookers knew the truth, and she internally granted him a small measure of respect for taking the hit.

"Everyone that does not want their worldview changed, leave now" Huey said loudly. When no one moved, he sighed.

"I'm serious. Anyone at all" he went out one.

"Out wit it n****!" Ed yelled, Tom clapping his hands over his daughter's ears just in time.

"Alright, fine. Everyone inside then" he said resignedly. Even on the ground and in exceptional pain, Robert did a double take.

"Say what!?" he balked. Huey glanced at him drily.

"Its better that I tell them now Grandad" he said.

"Yeah, but, in my house?" he said irritatedly.

"I'm not doing it out here. Too open. Now" turning to the group, he waved them inside.

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"And thats about it" Huey finished. A few feet away from him Dead Master sighed in relief, glad that he finally stopped talking.

The mixed group, grumbling ten minutes ago, was quiet.

"What" Gin said disbelievingly, breaking the silence's hold.

"I'm sorry, but-an alien?" Sarah said disbelievingly.

"Thats sum real n**** shit" Rukus agreed.

"This bitch is an alien" Riley insisted, on the far side of the room from where Huey gave his presentation. Her glance at at him made him shrink nervously despite the gulf.

"I find this unbelievable" Tom declared, a lawyer to the core. Instead of replying, Dead Master held out her clawed hand to clench it into a fist.

All it took was ten seconds to make everyone present widen their eyes that much further.

"Woah" Jazmine went in awe. Smirking, the girl artfully twirled the scythe in one hand as if it weighed nothing at all.

"Yes, so now, all of you are in on the secret" Huey announced, crossing his arms. The weapon ceased its twisting to come to rest on the floor, its owner glancing at him with everyone else.

"We should go to the authorities" Tom said immediately. True to form, Ed was the first to offer his response.

"Fuck that shit, thats fucking stupid" he disagreed.

"I'm wit Tom on this one" Robert added, like Riley on the other side of the room.

"Not me. This is some Guantanamo bay bullshit" Sarah interjected, realizing that her precious child was sitting right in front of her too late.

"Ya'll n****s are goin to prison for this shit" Rukus cackled.

"You heard it too ya dumb bastard" Gin spat.

"Whatchu talkin bout, I didn't hear a thing" he gleefully denied.

"Nine against one" Riley added.

"Hehe, n-nah" he denied, much less confident.

"Mommy, are we going to prison?" Jazmine fearfully asked her mother.

"Nononono, we're not baby, I promise" Sarah reassured, hugging her and sending a sharp look at her husband, who gulped nervously.

It took the arguing group a few seconds to notice the floor stomps, courtesy of an angry looking Huey.

"May I have your attention!" he snarled. Slowly they quieted down, still proceeding to glare at each other however.

"Nobody is going to the authorities, at all. Am I clear?" he stated.

"But Huey-" Tom tried to argue.

"No buts. This is the first recorded contact we as a species have ever made with an alien race. The moment the federal government hears about this, each and everyone of us is going to 'disappear' and this will all be suppressed" he painstakingly outlined. Jazmine nervously raised her hand, which he waved her on.

"If we tell someone, we're going to vanish?" she fearfully asked.

"Into a shallow grave, yes" he answered, turning his attention away from her blanching.

"This means you can't tell anyone, anyone at all about what you've seen or heard today. This is a secret you'll have to take to your who am I kidding" he slapped his face.

"On wit it boy" Robert urged.

"There is no way in hell any one of you can keep a secret like this, even if your lives depended on it. Which they do by the way" he drily explained. Ed, Gin, Sarah, and Rukus started to scowl at him. Riley and Robert were already doing so.

"You think we can't keep a secret?" Sarah demanded.

"Not in the least. Go update your wills, we're all going to need it" he answered. Ed and Gin bolted upwards to stomp passed him on their way out.

"Fuck you n****, we don't snitch" Ed declared.

"Snitches get stitches n****" Gin added, both brushing past him to the sound of the door being thrown open. Rukus was next, plodding his way to the door.

"If I get 'rested cuz of ya'll dirty n****s I'll make sure you get thrown in the dakest pit the white man got" he promised before leaving as well. The Dubois family was last, leaving cautiously.

"I still think this is a bad idea" Tom grumbled carefully.

"Honey, I love you, but there is no goddamn way I'm going to prison" Sarah stated, pushing Jazmine along without giving her a chance to speak to Huey (though based of of her petrified countenance he assumed that she wasn't in a talkative mood at present).

Huey watched them go, not looking away until he heard the front door swing shut. Quietly sighing, he turned to the one curious expression and the two angry expressions awaiting him.

"Now what in the fuck was that?" Robert demanded.

"I'm curious as well" Dead Master spoke. Huey let his head fall back and exhaled again. The two Freemans needed a moment to realize he had a small smile.

"That went better than I hoped it would" he admitted.

"What?" Riley went, utterly baffled. The other two looked just as puzzled.

"If I blew them off, they would all keep badgering us until they found out. If I just said keep it a secret, the entire town would know in two or three days. Doing this, it'll be a while before it leaks. Long enough to get her out of here" he explained, jabbing a thumb at her.

"Why would it be so bad if these government people find out?" Dead Master asked.

"You know what dissect means?" she shook her horned head "then how would you like to be strapped to a table and cut open so they can see what makes you work?" he posed. She frowned.

"I can get away" she said.

"That's what I'm trying to do, get you off of this planet before they find out" Huey told her.

"You got that from ET" Riley accused. He glared at his brother, not catching her frown.

"No I didn't, thats what you should do with lost aliens" he retorted.

"Whatever n****, no way you came up wit that on yo own" Riley shot back.

"Why do you keep calling me that?" she asked. Robert sighed, noticing out of the corner of his ehe the girl was looking at him questioningly.

"I dunno what you are, but you sho ain't human. Thats why he keeps sayin that" he explained over the boys's growing arguing. He stepped between his grandchildren and forced them apart, his hostile expression cutting off their words.

"Riley, quit being a dumbass n****. Huey, you better not be making this shit up. I ain't goin to prison cuz of you" he said to each of them.

"Whatever n****, you a bitch anyway" Riley dismissed.

"You're an idiot" Huey said right back.

The doorbell rang again. All four glanced at it again, exasperated frowns on three of them. Upon seeing that neither of them were going to do anything about it, Huey tromped towards the door again. Various scenarios crossed his mind as he opened the door, many of them involved sarcastic responses. If it was any of the assembled group that just left, they would've gotten one or two. His thoughts skipped when he saw who it really was.

"Hey man" greeted a fourteen year old black boy, who had both an easygoing expression and dreadlocks.

"Caesar. Of all the times you could show up, it had to be now" Huey said drily. His friend and occasionally partner in crime (usually metaphorically) shrugged.

"I can't help my timing. You look upset" the fundamentally relaxed boy observed.

"I am" Huey replied sourly.

"Whys that?" Caesar asked, either not picking up on the mood or purposely disregarding it.

"Come in" the afro'd youth answered tiredly, inviting him in. The dreadlocked boy obliged by following him, shutting the door behind him.

"Are you alright?" Caesar asked him.

"I've had no sleep, feelin really paranoid, and I was kicked into a wall a little bit ago" Huey methodically listed off, idly noting the small backpack he had.

"What and why?" he asked again, entering the living room.

Robert had taken a seat to watch some television, Riley was doing the same, and there was a weirdly dressed girl standing up and staring at the TV. Hearing the two approach, two tired pairs of eyes swiveled two them. A green pair needed a second to tear her attention away from the colorful box. All three coolly regarded the new arrival. He raised an eyebrow, partially at the poor condition of the family, and primarily at the girl.

"What?" Caesar said.

"Freak the fuck outta the neighbors but invite yo friend in? Really n****?" Robert said testily. The boy raised his arms and gently pushed the empty space in front of him away.

"Okay, back up. Huey, what in the fuck is going on?" he demanded. The girl abandoned her tv fixation to approach the boys, eyeing the dreadlocked one in particular.

"Dead Master, this is Caesar. Caesar, this is Dead Master. She's an alien" Huey introduced in the blandest of tones. Caesar glanced at him strangely before examining the girl, noticing she was doing the same. After a minute he slowly nodded.

"An alien. Neat" he said flatly.

"You're...not freaking out" the youth observed disbelievingly. He shrugged.

"With all the weird shit we've been through, I think this is honestly kinda low key. I mean, she's not hostile" he explained.

"Yes I am" she interjected.

"And its not like she's killed people" he went on, as if he didn't hear her.

"I have" she spoke again.

"Really, out of all the people in the world, you were probably the one this was most likely going to happen to" Caesar finished. Huey blinked.

"What."

"Besides, its not like she has a weapon pointed at me" he shrugged again. Something out of the corner of his eye caught his attention. Looking down, he discovered a shiny blade right in front of him, inches from his throat.

"I take that back" he said calmly.

"All ya'll take that shit outta here" Robert commanded. The sharp edge retracted from his throat, which he discovered belonged to an ornate scythe when he glanced at the girl.

"Upstairs then" Huey said glumly. The two boys left, Dead Master debating with herself whether to follow them or stay to watch the television. Shrugging, she chose the former.

Once out of sight, both the man and the boy sighed.

"This is some serious bullshit grandad" Riley muttered.

"Mm-hm. I just hope Huey isn't makin it up as he goes, or we all fucked" Robert muttered back.

Huey let Caesar and Dead Master into his shared bedroom, closing the door behind them. He leaned against the door to take a deep breath, trying to steady his nerves.

"You okay man?" Caesar asked.

"No. I'm not" he replied.

"Why? This one is keeping his act together" Dead Master commented.

"Its not about that. Just, I dunno what to do. I've been winging it for the past three days" he admitted in shame.

"Its cool man, you'll figure something out. You always do" Caesar encouraged.

"Some pointers would be nice" he said under his breath.

"So, where'd the scythe go?" Caesar asked the girl. In just a minute it had vanished, leaving no trace. She held up her arm and repeated the same show that left the assembled people downstairs speechless. Though his shared bedroom was small, there was enough room for her to twirl it around, to his amazement.

"That is some wicked shit" he praised.

"She killed two people a few days ago" Huey told him. He shrugged indifferently.

"They probably had it coming. What else you got?" Caesar went on excitedly. His friend's eyes narrowed.

"First, why are you like this? Its like you're not afraid" Dead Master asked him, letting the haft of the weapon rest against her collarbone.

"Like I said down there, you're not hostile. We wouldn't be talkin otherwise" he explained. The horned girl raised an eyebrow.

"Odd attitude" she noted.

"I'm an odd guy. Just how I am. My boy Huey here on the other hand is the real analytical kind. I bet he was studying you earlier" he jokingly prodded.

"I was" Huey growled.

"He had a small object he kept talking to" she added. Caesar quickly covered his mouth, unable to stifle his giggle in time.

"A tape recorder? Seriously?" he snickered.

"Just show him the other weapons already" Huey snapped angrily.

"Fine fine" she said loftily, waving a flippant hand at him.

Dead Master's free hand came up in the same way as she normally did. Adopting a look of concentration, she opened her palm out. Something writhed under her sleeve, sounding like rattling metal. The end peeked out at her wrist and spooled to the floor, revealing itself as a plain looking metal chain. Before either of them could comment it began twitching, moving on its own accord. Once there was a considerable length Caesar whistled.

"Chain tentacle, cool. How many do you have?" he asked.

"Several. If you like this, then..." she left hanging. A clump of light that didn't bother to behave as light should raced down the entire length of chain, consuming it in seconds. Another flashed in her other hand, taking the scythe with it too.

Bringing her hands together, she clenched her fists and suddenly threw them both out. Two bits of multicolored light flew out of her palms and took spots flanking her. In the blink of an eye they grew to enormous sizes, easily a yard in diameter. As they watched the lights dissipated, forming two new objects that brought a surprised curse from both of them. Seeing their awestruck looks, she smirked.

"Like what you see?" she asked playfully, as the two black skulls floated behind her. Unnatural green light glowed from their eyes and toothy jaws, bringing a cold shiver to both of them.

"Thats all kinds of creepy" Huey said, completely shocked.

"I'll take that as a yes" she said pleasingly. She raised one of her hands back up and snapped her fingers. Besides being able to make a snap sound from metal, it also had the effect of forcing the unnerving skulls to vanish into scattered flashes.

"So, you have a scythe, chains, some freaky skull things, and claws. Talk about armed to the teeth" Caesar said amazedly. Huey noticed her smile dip.

"Whats the matter?" he asked. She looked away, in a way that resembled embarrassed.

"C'mon, we wont judge. Right Huey?" Caesar pressed, which he reluctantly nodded to.

She sighed and raised her hand again. The lights that danced from her hand were different from before, creating something neither of them expected. It was a black sword, glossy in the light. About three feet long, and the grip (which neither could see well) seemed undecorated. If it wasn't for who was holding it and how it came to be, neither of them would've found it remarkable.

"Its a sword. Whats the big deal about it?" Huey probed. She looked away again.

"Its not mine" she said quietly.

"Hold on, if its not yours, then, how do you, well" Caesar did a rather poor impression of her weapons creation, complete with terrible sound effects.

"I don't want to talk about it" she said quickly, the blade vanishing. Almost rushing, she brushed passed Huey and threw the door open to leave. Both boys stared at the space she was in in confusion.

"What was that about?" Caesar asked him.

"No clue. There's so much I don't know about her yet" Huey admitted. The other boy nodded thoughtfully.

He suddenly snapped his fingers.

"You just reminded me why I came here" he said excitedly.

The dreadlocked boy yanked the bag from his back to set it in the floor. Raising his eyebrow, Huey watched him as he rotted around inside for a moment before he triumphantly produced two sheets of paper.

"Schoolwork from friday, since you were absent" he explained, holding the papers out. Huey stared.

"What?"

"You came here and discovered the greatest secret in human history, just to deliver my homework" he said dryly, taking the proffered gift.

"Yep. We got a test tomorrow, you really oughta study" he advised. Huey face palmed.

"Cheer up man, its algebra. You're good at that, right?" Caesar asked, throwing the bag back on.

"No" he said flatly.

"Oh. Well sucks to be you. I gotta go man, later" the boy said quickly, exiting in the same manner as the girl several minutes earlier.

"Hey don't tell anyone-" Huey began, only to be cut off by the door slamming shut.

"-about this" he finished lowly. Huey glanced at the papers, showing a great number of English questions. He groaned.


	3. Chapter 3

**A/N: Tikkmikk and Acidika, thanks for reviewing. Now, bombs away!**

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For the umpteenth time since yesterday afternoon, a line ran through Huey's mind. Consisting of just five words, it was a line that grossly underrepresented his thoughts and feelings of what was about to happen.

"This is a bad idea" he repeated. His brother, walking beside him on their way to middle school, scoffed.

"You've said that a hundred times already, shut yo damn mouth" Riley snapped. The youth's constant groaning on the matter added to his already innate dislike of public education.

"That doesn't make it any less true" Huey retorted sourly.

"It does makes it more annoying" Dead Master commented, walking beside the boys. A schoolbag was slung over her shoulder, giving a sense of legitimacy to her actions.

"Damn right. You always goin on bout 'bad shit' this or 'worse shit' that. I betcha todays goin to go perfect" Riley challenged.

"This is a bad idea" Huey blandly repeated.

"If I stay cooped up in that place one more day, I will kill someone" she said. With her, that was no idle threat. After the day before she made it clear she wasn't going to be ordered around so easily.

Just outside the Woodcrest City Middle School grounds, Caesar was waiting. He started to wave the brothers on once he saw them, but when he realized who was accompanying them he stopped mid wave. While they both had their normal outfits, she continued to wear her preferred dress. It stood out starkly, even before the clawed hands and the horns atop her head, to say nothing of her pale skin or her strange green eyes.

"Hey" Huey greeted blandly. Riley continued into the building, but Dead Master stopped with them.

"Mornin. Um" Caesar coughed uncertainly, pointedly looking in every direction but the girl's.

"Morning" she greeted cordially.

"To answer your question: one, this wasn't my idea. Two, I made it quite clear this is a bad idea. And three, nobody listened" Huey listed off.

"Oh...kay...um, but whats-" Caesar started, but the afro'd boy swiped a hand to cut him off.

"Don't say it. You say it, and everything is goin to go to hell" Huey warned. The other boy nodded cautiously after a moment.

"Okay then. So, how did you guys get her, you know, registered?" he asked carefully.

"We didn't. Again, its a bad idea" he answered.

"Registered for what?" Dead Master inquired.

"Well, you have to get a buncha papers to actually get in you know? Social security, birth certificate, some state thingy, stuff like that" he explained. She tilted her head to the side.

"Nevermind. We outta get inside, bells goin to ring shortly" he said instead of pressing the issue.

Huey was torn between leaving the strange girl's side to avoid any association with her, and staying right by her in case something happened, which it certainly would. In the end, he chose the latter. Hanging his head low, he traced his way to the morning class with the girl a few feet behind him. The entire way he could see the effect she had on the regular population of the otherwise normal middle school.

As soon as she walked by, conversation ceased. Whatever it was the various teenagers and occasional adult were talking about came to a screeching halt. Her appearance at first glance wasn't too outlandish; the institution did have a small amount of so-called 'goths' among them, and her outfit bore a resemblance to the style. But then people's eyes saw her skin, much too pale to be normal. The moment they spotted the black hands or the horns (the latter was more likely) merely cinched it.

"Fuck my life" Huey muttered under his breath.

Walking down the hallway decorated with amateur posters for innumerable different things, he could hear the fevered conversation start up again when the people thought they couldn't hear. He knew exactly what they were discussing. Internally he cursed; his efforts to keep a lid on the matter of an alien on the prowl were apparently for naught. By that night thousands, perhaps tens of thousands, of people would know about the girl.

He found his first classroom of the day with practiced ease. The door was held wide open to let in any remaining outside, though at that point only a few stragglers were left. A discreet look behind him showed him that the girl had stopped, an uncertain look on her features. It took several seconds for the entirety of the thirty odd students to notice there was a new arrival. Only a couple realized that they were staring and looked away.

The very last to discover this was the teacher, only when the bell went off did he look to the door.

"'Scuse me, are you in the right classroom?" the middle aged and balding man asked her.

"I am" Dead Master replied coolly.

"Really. Are you new or something?" he asked tersely.

"Yes. I am...Dorothy Masters" she said quickly, catching the youth's attention. His blood froze when he realized he never practiced something like names with her. The man's pursed lip showed what he thought about her.

"Dorothy eh? Let me check my stuff..." the teacher trailed off, flipping through the sheaf on papers on his desk. The youth's already shortened nerves were stretched nearly to the breaking point.

"You're not in here" he said after a minute.

Huey's breath caught in his throat.

"Stupid bureaucracy crap. They never give me updated anything. Alright miss Masters, go take a seat. I'll get this crap sorted out eventually" he said dismissively.

"Thank you" Dead Master said to him before strolling down the aisle between the desks, taking an empty desk near the back, with everyone's eyes on her. Huey blinked.

 _Did...did that actually happen?_ he wondered disbelievingly.

"Alright class, today we're going to be doing a group assignment on current events. Form a group of four or five and send someone up here to pick a couple. Make a fifteen hundred word summary, and you'll present it tomorrow. And no crowding Masters" the man commanded.

As to be expected, no one listened to him. A dozen students immediately clustered around the alien girl, excitedly asking her to join with their group or to join hers. What surprised him was how she handled the mass of people; instead of reacting badly (i.e. with violence) she calmly declined one invitation after another, whittling away disappointed students until only four were left. He didn't know what made them special, but she seemed to tolerate them much better.

"Why did Grandad suggest this" Huey muttered under his breath.

"Whats that?" someone asked him, catching him by surprise. Looking up, he was surprised one more to see his friend sitting in a relocated desk beside him, along with two curious looking students whose names he couldn't remember.

"Nothin" he dismissed. The dreadlocked boy bemusedly shook his head.

"Better stop starin, or else people might start thinkin you have a crush on her" Caesar joked.

"When did you even get in here?" Huey questioned to change the subject.

"Um" went one of his group mates. Both of them turned to the student, a red haired girl with freckles. The black haired boy beside her discreetly squirmed nervously. He guessed it was a case of 'pair the spares' was why they were with them.

"Yes?" he prodded. The girl held out two papers, filled with photocopied words.

"Which should we do?" the girl asked. Huey snagged both of them to look over, already beginning to internally rant about them.

"Europe's new balance of power, the controversial move by several countries to purchase new UAV's" he read from one.

"UAVs?" Caesar asked.

"Unmanned arial vehicles. Drones" Huey helpfully explained.

"My uncle operates one of those things" the girl commented. The pair ignored her.

"Sounds neat. Whats the other one?" he asked. Huey lowered the first to scan the next.

"Trial of the decade, war criminal Dragan Niceleovitch to face tribunal on friday" he reported.

"Wasn't he that militia leader in the balkans?" the boy asked. Huey lowered the paper to level a flat look at him.

"It was in the news a few days ago" he explained.

"Whats your name again?" he asked.

"Corey" she answered.

"I'm Kayla" the girl said, ignored once again.

"Group vote. Drones or trial?" Huey asked them.

"Trial" Corey proclaimed.

"Drones" Caesar and Kayla voted.

"Drones it is. Lets see" Huey squinted at the smudged words "somethin somethin contract for Euro Ariel Engine's Neuron superseded in favor of HCLI's Predators, made in America. Typical" he snorted. He felt a finger poke his forehead, courtesy of his friend.

"Work now, battle the system later" he reminded.

As the project unfolded, Huey kept stealing discreet glances at the girl, waiting for something to go wrong.

xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxXXXXXXXXxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx

 _Hours later..._

At three o'clock bell finally rang, sounding out its simple tune to the thousand plus students and teachers in the Woodcrest City Middle school. For the latter, it brought sighs of relief. For the former, it was a time of celebration. The hordes of children streamed out of the main doors, their excited chattering becoming a moderate roar. Many had parents or older siblings waiting for them, while many more had to make due with riding the bus. A lucky few lived within walking distance, such as the Freemans and their guest.

Huey walked out of the doors feeling quite perturbed. Four more classes he went to, with the girl behind him every time. Each of his teachers did the same thing the first did, accommodating her without a problem. Not one made any attempt to call the office to confirm that there was in fact a new student named Dorothy Masters that was supposed to be there, or that such a person even existed. He wondered how they got their jobs in the first place.

There was a second issue that was giving him grief. It was a lack of something in fact (besides common sense, which her was used to). Dead Master, though showing discomfort with the attention she received, didn't react the way he feared. Polite deflection was all she handed out from her slender claws. No death, no maiming, not even an injury. Even to one brain dead fool who touched one of her horns she frowned and told him "don't touch those" in a calm manner. He was mystified at her flagrant consideration.

In a way he was relieved; no one thought to connect her arrival with the double murder in the park not even a week earlier, and with no fresh leads or victims the event had faded from public memory. Though he didn't care for any of the students in the school, one of the last things he wanted was for any (most of them anyway) was to come to harm. Something she was all too capable of.

"That was interesting" the extraterrestrial in question commented from behind him. He stopped and turned to face her, picking a spot sway from the seething mass that continued to stream out of the building.

"Not the way I'd put it. So now that you've experienced a normal human day what're you going to do now?" Huey asked her. He kept his voice low, so as to not attract suspicion.

"Well, Angela wants me to come with her for an outdoor project next week. Shannon's going shopping later this week, and Coach Gary is recruiting for track. I'm considering it and why are you looking at me like that?" Dead Master sternly questioned his sour expression.

"Why are you considering any of that? You're not human" he reminded.

"So? Just because I'm not like the rest of you means I can't do any of that?" she asked rhetorically.

"Yes, exactly. You're not living here permanently, you're just staying here long enough for us to contact your people" he explained irritably. She crossed her arms and scowled.

"And what are you going to do if I decide to anyway?" she challenged.

He jabbed a finger at her in preparation of a retort, but fell silent as he thought it over.

"I thought so. Besides, most of these fools couldn't tell an alien from an octopi" she replied smugly. Huey dropped his head to sigh in defeat.

"Do you even know what an octopus is?" he questioned, trying to save face.

"No, and I don't care" she answered flatly.

Huey scowled, trying to think up something to change her mind but coming up blank. The girl uncrossed her arms, smirking. He would've gone on if someone didn't run up to the pair, panting for breath. Adopting a questioning look, he regarded the huffing student (one of whom he was sure he'd never seen before) with guarded suspicion. Once his breathing slowed down some he spoke.

"Huey Freeman?" he wheezed.

"Yes?"

"There's a fight goin on, come with me" he said quickly, his features flushed with excitement.

"So?" he replied sternly.

"Its between Fred and Riley" he added. His piece spoken, the intrepid messenger sprinted off. Huey watched him for a moment, tracking his location to the edge of the school property. He scowled.

"Stay here" he commanded before taking off in a jog in the same direction as the boy.

Bordering the edge of the school was a copse of tame trees, neatly pruned back from the civilized field. Gathered right by this was a large group of thirty or more children, clustered into a rough circle. Most were cheering or making catcalls at something in the center, which they obscured. His scowl deepening, he shoved his way through a few of them to the center, ignoring their protests.

In the circle with trees on one side and children on the other, a wide berth was given to the two boys. The first was Fred Magnus, the thirteen year old cousin to Butch Magnus, a bully Riley got into numerous spats with. Though the boy himself was in high school (somehow) his cousin was only a grade above Riley and was determined to make him proud, starting with the beating of the youngest Freeman. Both looked at the older boy with contrasting expressions.

"Oh yeah bitch! Time to get yo ass whupped!" Riley boasted.

"You want some of this?" Fred threatened, raising his meaty fist. Despite being cousins he bore an uncanny resemblance to the older boy, save for his glossy black hair.

"No and no. Who started this?" Huey questioned loudly. The crowd quieted down somewhat, likely in anticipation. He had every intention of disappointing those who wanted to watch a fight.

"This n**** was talkin shit" Riley loudly proclaimed.

"Motherfucker called my mother a ho. No one calls my mom a whore!" Fred snarled.

"So you both did. Alright, lets call it even" Huey stated calmly. The crowd cried out in outrage.

"Like hell" Fred vehemently disagreed.

"You a bitch" Riley snapped at him.

"No, I'm a rational human being. Now, are you two goin to continue being dumbshits?" he posed to them. They both scowled at him.

"I'm gonna take this n**** down!" Riley shouted, charging at the much larger boy.

If Fred was half or even a third smaller than what he was, the cornrowed boy might've stood a slim chance. As it was, he merely swung his fist out to clock the much smaller boy, knocking him off his feet. He limply fell to the ground, out cold well before he impacted. Huey clinically watched his brother fall, doing nothing to help him. The group raggedly cheered, one yelled "you got knocked the fuck out!" to the sight.

"Dumb bastard" Huey muttered. Fred rubbed his fist, looking triumphantly at the fallen boy. A malicious expression came over him, and he turned to walk towards him.

"What're you doin?" he drily questioned. Fred stopped to level a vicious smirk at him.

"I'm gonna make this little bitch rue the day he ever talked shit about me" he declared. Huey's gaze narrowed.

"He's unconscious. You've won, let it go" he told him. Lowering the smirk, Fred swaggered right up to him. Though shorter by easily a head, the youth's neutral frown didn't change.

"Why should I?" he smugly asked.

"Its a wonderful thing called self-control. You should try it sometime" Huey deadpanned.

Several seconds of pressing silence overrode the previous muttering. Huey thought his heartbeat was louder than the surroundings. Next thing he knew, what felt like a dump truck slammed into his chest. In the span of half of a second his feet left the ground entirely, all the air in his lungs forced out by the sheer force of the blow. When his back slammed into the grass he could only gasp, trying desperately to bring some breath back in him.

Shuddering in pain, he needed a moment to regain his bearings. His hearing was acting up, making the howls of laughter from the crowd and Fred sound tinny. The same student who yelled "you got knocked the fuck out" before repeated the cry. Scowling and turning red from embarrassment, Huey struggled to at least get his torso off of the ground. A hand on his shoulder helped him to his goal.

"You know, I respected you before because you acted quickly" remarked the meticulous voice. Huey's eye began to twitch as he glanced over his shoulder.

"So I'm going to assume this was part of your plan" Dead Master said, retracting her metal hand.

Taking his attention off of her, he noticed that the crowd had quieted down to excited whispers, with practically every eye around fixated on the horned girl. Fred regarded the new arrival with a raised brow. Another tap on his shoulder from a good samaritan helped Huey to his feet, the glasses wearing boy briefly struggling to yank him up. He muttered out a thank you before turning back to the exchange.

"Who are you?" he said contemptuously. Dead Master stepped around Huey into the circle.

"Dorothy Masters. You are?" she asked back. The fat teen puffed up his chest.

"Fred Magnus. I'm the biggest sonofabitch around" he boasted. She smiled.

"I can see that" she said lowly. He smirked back, evidently not catching her meaning.

"So, got a boyfriend?" Fred asked suggestively. Even in pain, Huey rolled his eyes and groaned.

Dead Master giggled, bringing a hand up to cover her mouth. The normally cheerful sound deeply unsettled both the youth and everyone else present.

"I don't actually, but I'm not looking for one" she replied, amusement coloring her words. Fred flash of disappointment was quickly swamped by his arrogance.

"Oh well, I don't care" he brushed off. Still smiling, Dead Master shifted her stance to place a fist on her waist.

"I'm feeling a little charitable, so because these fools" she jabbed a thumb in Huey's direction "can't fight to save their lives, I think I'll step in for them" she said casually. Fred's brief chuckle faded as he contemplated what she just said. The crowd's whispering increased at the same time.

" _You_? Are going to fight _me_?" he said disbelievingly. Huey's eyes widened.

"My my, aren't you a quick one" Dead Master joked.

"Bitch, I'm three times your size!" he exclaimed.

"You're big. I've fought bigger" she said smilingly. He snorted, putting his fists up.

"Fine, have it your way. I'm not afraid to hit a girl" he spat.

"Good for you. Coincidentally, neither am I" she said back. He snarled.

"I'll make you pay for that!" Fred bellowed. It took him a little under three seconds to cross the ten foot distance between them, fists raised high. Dead Master never stopped smiling, standing still before the avalanche barreling right towards her.

What happened next occurred almost too quickly to see. At the last millisecond she suddenly brought her hand up to slap his onrushing fist away, swatting his mean right hook aside. Her other hand, curled into a fist, flew out at an incredible speed. The first punch imprinted his bulk, making his eyes go wide and his breath spit out. Her swatting hand came about right after that, delivering another blow to his torso as well. Fred stumbled, his balance temporarily lost. She finished it by drawing her fist back in imitation to send one more powerful hit right below his solar plexus. Just as Huey did, he flew back to land in a heap. Six feet away.

The crowd was silent. Most of them had let their jaws drop, all of them had their eyes wide (the sole exception was the still unconscious Riley, which someone had the good sense to drag away from the ad-hoc arena). It was one thing to see the 5'6 two hundred thirty pound bully knock someone else off of their feet; it was quite another to see the same happen to him. By a girl no less.

But Fred was still conscious. Gasping for breath, the fat teen pushed himself up off the ground. First to a sitting position, then after a precarious half minute span, back onto his feet. Dead Master hadn't moved the entire time he was down, she merely watched him with a smug smile. One of her arms was curled up to her chest level, the black fingers errantly flexing according to some unknowable pattern. He leveled a dangerous glare at her with his eyes filled with murder.

"You bitch" he growled.

"About time you got up. I was beginning to worry that you were all talk" she said cheerfully. He jabbed a finger at her.

" _You cheated_ " he accused. Many of the crowd's members snapped their gazes back to her, seeing her smile slide into confusion.

"How exactly?" she asked.

"Those gloves. They're brass knuckles or some shit" Fred spat. Her flexing hand froze, her gaze turning to it with a fresh eye. Muttering from the herd of children told Huey what their thoughts were; she did punch harder than someone her size would suggest, never mind that metal affixed to knuckles couldn't send someone his size flying in any way.

"Really" she said quietly, turning her hand around.

"Take em off you cheating bitch" he threatened. The girl deliberated for a second before shrugging.

"I'm in a good mood anyway" she said to herself.

Huey watched her intently, first wondering how she was going to take her metal hands off, then wondering what her hands would look like underneath. Before his vivid imagination could give an answer, she brought both her hands to her chest. He heard clacking, and what sounded like a hiss of escaped air before a loud pop echoed out. She raised her now exposed hand upwards to the light, visible for everyone to see.

Her fingers were a bit longer than a normal person's, but apart from that it was an otherwise normal human hand.

Huey raised an eyebrow in confusion. After flexing her fingers for a second she repeated the procedure to her other hand. Dead Master held up the metal gloves, the tinny clinking sound of them tapping together audible with the low volume around her. She glanced around before sedately walking to a random student, a glasses wearing boy. He realized it was the same one that helped him up earlier. She held the gloves out by the wrists to the boy, who's complexion was draining fast.

"Hold these" she ordered. Raising his shaky hands, he let her lower the gloves into them.

"Lose them and I'll flay you alive" she stated flatly. He meekly nodded. She nodded back and turned back to the awaiting Fred, who was posed like he was before being sent flying. His cocky smirk had returned as well.

"Lets see you try that shit again" he challenged. Dead Master smiled back.

"Lets" she repeated. In the blink of an eye she was right by him.

One if her flying fists gave an uppercut at the same time the other slammed into his chest. Moving so quickly that she could barely be tracked, she sent a flurry of blows at the larger boy. His body jerked from the repeated attacks, unable to even move on his own power. Fred cried out in pain. She suddenly dashed back to deliver the coup de grace: a powerful kick to the center of his mass.

In that moment it finally dawned on the foolish boy: she hadn't been fighting with him. She had been _playing_. The sheer power behind her fresh round of attacks was reminiscent of his beloved cousin, and he could tell she was holding back even then. He doubted Butch, now an up and coming MMA fighter, could take her in a stand up brawl. He doubted anyone could. All coherent thought came to a halt when her foot connected.

Fred fell back five feet before, when she was toying with him. This time he came completely off of the ground for at least eight feet before tumbling into a pile of twisted limbs and blubber. He was still for a worrying amount of time, only beginning to spasm after sucking in a gulp of air. Moaning in agony, he tenderly began to untangle his mess of a body. He gasped, each labored breath setting his nerves aflame from the broken ribs.

He raggedly wheezed while he brought himself back up. His trembling arm pushed his bulk away from the ground, struggling to get back on his feet. He made it as far as his knees when he heard a cracking stick nearby. Exhaling in terror, Fred looked up. Dead Master sauntered towards him at a sedate pace, taking her time with getting to him. It wasn't like there was a reason for her to hurry. Unsurprisingly, she was smiling.

Frantically he pawed at the ground to push himself away from her. His speed was pathetic however; the muscled fat that had helped and protected him for so long now worked against him. No matter how much he struggled, he couldn't get away from the girl. Hyperventilating, his normally squinty gaze was wide in fright. She advanced on him in the same snails pace, the crowd watching but keeping the twenty foot gap between them inviolate.

"Ge-get away from me!" he cried out. She stopped just a few feet away from him, her bizarre green eyes boring into him.

"In a moment. First" she started, holding her arm out.

For a heartbeat Fred fearfully wondered what was going to happen. His answer came in the form of a metallic rattle, followed by the gleam of a chain that wormed its way out of her sleeve. The end moved on its own accord as it snaked its way to the ground, sliding along the grass like a living creature. The girl smiled the entire time it unspooled from her arm, a seemingly endless length of dull silver chain.

Seeing as she was in the middle of something, he thought it was his chance to get away. Fred tried to escape, but one twitch from her palm and he felt something hard and uncomfortably warm wrap itself around his lower shin. Afraid to look but knowing he had to, he hesitantly glanced downwards. The end of her chain was curled around his leg, tightening its hold before his eyes. He looked back to her in equal parts amazement and fright.

"H-h-how?" he nearly whispered. Dead Master smiled and jerked her arm. He yelped when he felt himself scuffle across the ground back towards her, in no way under his own power. He tried scrambling along the ground again, but the only thing that accomplished was tearing up the grass.

"Now for your lesson. Are you listening?" she asked cordially. She closed the remaining distance to bring herself to a crouch in front of him. In his position he could see up her skirt, but her tights revealed no details (though he was hardly in a state of mind to notice such things at present).

"You are certainly the biggest one around here. But I am the strongest" she said clearly. Her smile dropped, and she leaned in close to him. He began to shiver.

"From now on you're not going to hurt anyone else in this place. _They are mine,_ to do with as I see fit. This is now my property, my realm. If I hear that you did so anyway, then next time I won't be so charitable" she said lowly. His widening eyes met her sinisterly calm ones.

"Do you understand me" she nearly whispered.

Fred nodded frantically, tears stinging the corners of his vision.

"Good" she said simply. The chain's hold mercifully loosened, its entire length retreating back up her sleeve. She stood back up and brushed her dress off before turning away, to return back to the anxious crowd. Fred needed a short time to remember how to breathe normally again, once he returned to his senses.

Dead Master ignored the wide eyes of the gaggle of awed students, singling out the glasses wearing boy. They parted away from her, in either respect or fear. The boy in question stayed still once he realized what she was doing. She stopped an arms length from him to bore her eyes into his. Meekly he held his hands out, her metal gloves still in his palms. In a single quick motion she snatched them from his hold and strode away, reattaching them as she went.

It clicked on the herd of ignorant students that the show was over, and they began to disperse.

Huey watched her brush past him without a word, not even giving him a sidelong glance. He wasn't sure whether to be relieved or terrified at the show she just put on. Shaking his head, he decided it didn't matter. He stayed in place amid the scattering people, deep in thought. Sending a peek at the still prone Fred, his thought of questioning him was vetoed the moment he saw the large bully in a fetal position.

A pained groan caught his attention, reminding him of his brother's condition. Sighing, he went to help.

xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxXXXXXXXXxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx

 _Three days later..._

Strolling down the hallway away from class, Huey took some time to observe the changes in the school. When Dead Master walked by there was no more excited whispering, nor was there furtive attempts to get her attention. Instead there was only cowed whispers by those who didn't want to cross her path. The looks of amazement were replaced by awe, and fear. Even a few of the teachers had the look.

On tuesday none of them knew better. On wednesday, when word that the biggest bully on the school was beat to a bloody pulp (details were warped due to the nature of rumors) many of them crowded her, especially his victims. She drank in their praise, basking in the mindless adoration the people gave her. On thursday, one such sheep asked her to help him with another minor bully.

According to rumor, she laughed before punching him and stealing his wallet.

Huey was wary of the changes she had wrought over the school. One bully had been laid low, only to be replaced by another. The air of anxiety had permeated the building, and he alone knew why it was there. No matter what he did or how much he thought it over, he felt guilt at unleashing such a monster on the hapless population. With the benefit of hindsight he could list of a dozen alternatives that would've kept her away. Mentally he compared himself to Victor Frankenstein over what he was responsible for (a shiver crawled up his spine when he recalled how that book went).

Stepping out of the main doors, he continued to walk away to the street with the girl a few feet behind him. Dead Master's presence caused the wave of exiting students to back away some, creating a small buffer zone between her and them. Another shiver crawled up when he discovered this. There was no general order to do that, they did it on their own. Keeping a reasonably safe distance from themselves and a monster.

Waiting by the curb was Caesar. Riley was nowhere to be found, through he could make several assumptions about where he was. The dreadlocked boy gave a perfunctory wave at the pair, adopting a neutral look at them. There was no way he failed to notice the newest effect the horned girl was having on the school, and he would have to be deaf to not know about the various rumors or gossip floating around.

"Hey man" he greeted.

"Hey" went Huey's laconic response. Together they began to walk away from the school building, Dead Master a few steps behind them.

"No hey for me?" she asked irritatedly.

"Hey" Casear said quickly, and more than a bit fearfully.

"Thats better. And hey back" she said satisfactorily. The two boys exchanged uncertain looks.

"So...now that you've spent almost a full week at school..." Huey began carefully, turning his around.

"Yes yes, I'll stop going. Will you shut up about it now?" she snapped. He blinked.

"Um, yeah. Sure. Er" he trailed off.

"I'm bored with it now. School was fun at first, but there's too many rules. Thats why" she explained curtly.

"I...see..." he murmured.

"So what're you going to do now?" Caesar asked, turning his head as well. She shrugged.

"No idea. I might go see those two that were at the house though, Ed and Gin if I remember correctly" she answered.

"Thats, um, neat I guess. But are you..." Caesar trailed off himself when he saw his friend's eyes go wide in terror.

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 **A/N: yes, DM quoted Marvel's Thor. No, I do not care.**


	4. Chapter 4

**A/N: Korsar2303: glad you liked this ticking bomb. The OVA appearance I've chosen does have a reason, but I do admit to iking that version better. My own bias, nothing more.**

 **Now, onwards.**

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" _No_ " the youth said hoarsely. He threw his bedroom door open and frantically searched inside, as remote as the possibility was.

Dead Master and Riley were nowhere to be found.

"Shit" he cursed. He sprinted to the next room, the guest bedroom. He repeated the procedure, with the same result. And the next room after that.

Robert left the kitchen with a cup of coffee in hand, clad in only his bathrobe. He was heading for the living room to watch some television, but was interrupted in his journey by the sound of someone racing down the stairs. Raising one of his brows, he looked to see his grandson sprinting down the steps in great loping strides, eating up two or three steps at a time. He stayed in place at the sight, his head tracking him as he reached the end and spin to the next room by grabbing the handrail.

Once he was out of sight, Robert focused on his hearing to tell him what the boy was doing. Despite his advancing age he could hear fine (though he pretended it was much worse when the situation called for it). He heard door after door get yanked open, each time a mumbled "shit" followed it. Taking his attention away from him for a moment, he wondered what could put him in such a state. A glance around gave him his answer.

An out of breath Huey sprinted back the way he came, skidding to a stop just before the old man.

"Grandad, have you seen-" he started to question, but stopped to cough raggedly from a distinct lack of breathing. Seeing him temporarily incapacitated, Robert decided to cut him some slack.

"Those two left half an hour ago" he answered. The youth's head snapped up in shock.

"What!" he cried out. His grandfather shrugged.

"Yeah I know its weird. Up by seven am on a school day, wonder whats gotten into that little n****" he commented calmly. Huey's breathing picked up almost to hyperventilation levels.

"Did they say where they were goin!?" he demanded.

"Calm down, before you pop a blood vessel. He didn't tell me, but he did leave a note. Dunno why" he answered, pointing towards the kitchen. They afro'd boy took off without a word. The old man shook his head at his strange behavior, internally asking himself what had gotten into everyone lately. Shrugging, he decided it didn't matter before resuming his original plan of TV watching.

Huey scrambled into the kitchen. He began to frantically search every surface, looking for everything with words. Such was his state that he actually passed over the small post-it note attached to the refrigerator via a magnet twice before realizing it was there. Yanking it off to send the small object flying, he fretfully scanned over the note. His worst fears were confirmed in that moment.

Robert looked over again when he heard Huey running again. He was going to yell for the boy to slow down before he hurt himself, or broke something. But the front door was thrown open and slammed shut before he could do so. Again he raised a brow at his bizarre behavior. And again he shook off his concerns, instead he became aware that he was alone in the house for the first time in weeks. He huffed and grabbed the remote.

Huey had his bike mounted and moving as fast as he could manage. Normally he tried to keep his speed down since there were any number of things that warranted caution: debris in the road, pedestrians, ornery neighbors, paranoid cops, et cetera. But at that time he wasn't in the mood to care. He pedaled quickly, pushing his legs to their limits. In short order his breath was reduced to ragged sputters, but still he pedaled.

Four days passed after Dead Master decided she was bored with school, and she made an innocent suggestion that he vehemently shot down. He even went so far as to make her promise to not go, and for a time it seemed to work. She said no more about the subject, making him faintly hope she was serious. He saw now that she was just lulling him into a false sense of security. In the corner of his mind not tainted by panic he wondered what Riley was doing with her.

It was a twenty minute ride to the park at a decent pace, another ten to reach Ed Wuncler's home. In just twenty two minutes (and three close calls with passerby's) he covered that distance. At another time he would've felt pride at accomplishing a feat like that, perhaps enough to boast about it. At present though, he was too consumed by worry to even notice. Visions of destruction and death danced before his eyes the entire way.

He only started to slow down when the man's home began to loom before him. Four stories tall, eighty rooms, and several square miles of carefully manicured lawns and gardens ostentatiously announced the presence of the enormous Wuncler mansion. It was home to the richest man in Woodcrest, perhaps the country. Before the youth could enter the property itself, he had to get past the fortress like wall that surrounded the place. Right by the main driveway was a guardhouse, who's current occupant exited to meet the boy as he pulled up to it.

"Oh fuck" Huey muttered unhappily. Coming out of the guardhouse was a plump older man, darker than anyone else he knew. The man wore the black uniform the owner liked for his guards to have, complete with the billed cap. He regarded the young Freeman with unconcealed distaste.

"Hay now, this here is private property. You can take yo low class shit elsewhere" Uncle Rukus greeted sourly.

"I don't got time for this, just let me in" Huey answered in kind, skipping the formalities. Rukus sneered, reaching for his side to pat the nightstick on his belt.

"You think I'm just gonna let your darkie ass in just 'cause you said so? Get the fuck outta here before I beat some n**** ass" he threatened.

"You let Riley in earlier" he shot. The bane of his existence chuckled, but doubt flashed across his features.

"There's no way that little monkeys is in this here buildin, you just trying to trick me" he said, with much less confidence than he wanted.

"Check inside damnit" Huey snapped.

The walkie talkie on Rukus's belt crackled to life.

"Control to gate, come in. Rukus, pick up" the authoritative male voice on the other end commanded. Scowling at the youth, he unclipped the device from his belt to speak into it.

"This is gate, I got a monkey in front of me. Permission to use deadly force?" he asked hopefully.

"Negative. Send him in, he's expected" the man said curtly before static replaced his voice. Rukus glared, first at the radio, then at the troublemaking boy that was glowering right back at him. Narrowing his gaze, he walked backwards to the guardhouse, flicking something just in the door. The large ornate gate that blocked of the driveway rattled, the center splitting to open wide. Wasting no more time, Huey pushed off again into the entranceway.

"You try to steal anythin and I'll bust your head!" the racist guard threatened. The youth was out of earshot in short order though.

The slight incline made his already sore muscles send slivers of agony in protest, even with the short distance that was left to go. By the time he reached the front door he was heaving breath, and having trouble keeping the bike upright. When he lowered his leg to prop it up, it nearly buckled under the strain. Grimacing the entire time, he gave one more burst of effort to dismount it.

He had to stop a moment to catch his wind, despite knowing full well how much he needed to hurry. When he felt slightly better he glanced at the door, only to do a double take at the butler patiently standing at attention.

"Mister Freeman?" he asked neutrally,. Huey was momentarily taken aback at his presence; he looked like a stereotypical butler down the fine details, lacking only an english accent or something like it.

"Yes?" he said back, his short breath clipping his words short. The man nodded before turning around to open the door, gesturing for him to follow. Sparing a peek at his bike, he trotted after him.

"Is mister Wuncler home?" Huey asked quickly, keeping up with the man's long strides. He peeked around that the ostensible surroundings, noting several pieces of gilded art that were likely worth more than his home by several orders of magnitude.

"The elder Wuncler is not. He is currently upstate for a shareholders meeting, he will return the day after tomorrow. But I'm assuming you were referring to the young Wuncler, no?" the butler asked back. The two came to a set of stairs, which he internally groaned at. Nevertheless he soldiered on after the man.

"Thats right" he agreed.

"He is currently entertaining guests in his...recreation room. I was instructed earlier to take you to him if you arrived" the butler explained, making Huey give him a questioning look. He didn't get the chance to ask however, as the man came to a stop before a door. Just beyond he could hear ambient sounds, unlike anything else that he heard thus far. It sounded like faint music, filtering through the walls. He thought he saw the butler sigh before he opened the door.

The loud music beat out like a physical thing, briefly deafening him after the relative quiet outside. The butler didn't looked phased by the powerful beat, he just stood in place to wait patiently. After several seconds his perseverance paid off; the music lowered considerably by whoever had the sound system, though it didn't shut off entirely. From inside came a bellow of "who the fuck is it!?"

"Mister Wuncler, your guest has arrived" the butler said neutrally.

"Who? I didn't invite no-hold up, nevermind, send him in" the deep ghetto accented voice shouted. The butler gave Huey one more flat look before gesturing for him to enter. Before he walked through the door he gave a quick "thanks" to him, not seeing his nodding reply cut off by the closing door.

The "recreation room" was much different than the rest of the mansion. Posters of bands and famous rappers were plastered all over the walls, while expensive lamps and statuettes had cheap clothes tossed over them. On every piece of furniture there was either pricy electronics, weapons, or both scattered on the tops. Dominating the center of the room was a circle made of an enormous hundred inch TV with large speakers flanking it, and two large couches. Four people were on the couches, two on one and two on the other.

"Yo! What up n****?" greeted the first of the couch dwellers. Edward Wuncler the third, sporting a tank top with blue jeans. Gin Rummy waved perfunctorily, not taking his eyes off of the screen. Glancing at it, Huey saw that it was a shooter game, currently spilt between two players. He didn't know which one it was, but he didn't care anyway.

"Hey" he said lowly, his narrowing gaze moving to the other couch. On one side was Riley, a look of intense concentration on his face and a game controller clutched in his hand. Every few seconds he muttered a curse, giving every indication that he failed to notice his brother standing just a few feet away.

On the opposite side of the couch was Dead Master. She was sitting with her stocking clad legs propped up by a cushion laden stand. On her lap was a laptop computer, a model that was priced easily four times the cost of his grandfathers. A pair of earphones snaked down from her head to the side of the machine as well. Like Riley, she was deeply engrossed with whatever was on the screen. Feeling eyes on her, she glanced up.

"Oh, its you" she said, with a total lack of sincerity.

"What."

"I wanted out of the house for a couple of hours, I was so bored."

"The fuck."

"And you kept hovering over me so much, I was feeling threatened."

"Are you doing here?" he demanded.

"I just said, I was bored. Honestly, you're a boring person" she remarked.

"You in the way" Riley complained. Huey shot him a death glare before turning back to the girl. He was about to go on a tirade but the TV suddenly went quiet, making both Riley and Gin curse.

"Kay, we all here now" Ed announced. His afro'd head swiveled to the dangerous man-child, seeing both a remote in his lowering hand and a self satisfied smirk on his face.

"What the fuck n****!? That match had like a minute left!" Gin snarled.

"Yeah what gives!?" Riley shouted. Dead Master clicked something on the laptop before pushing it aside, yanking out the plugs as well. Huey merely glared.

"Ya'll are here naow, lets get down to business" he stated with an uncharacteristic degree of seriousness. He insistently waved for the computer, which the girl brought to him, brushing past the youth without a word. Setting it down in front of him, Ed nodded and pulled a small widget out from his pocket to attach to one of its ports. Upon closer examination Huey discovered it was a bluetooth. Clicking something on the keyboard, he pointed towards the TV.

"Check this shit out" he boasted. The four other occupants glanced at the large screen, all but one had a look of guarded curiosity.

"This that bank shit?" Gin asked irritably, moments before the image loaded. It was a photo of the front of a marble stoned building, with a large sign above the front door identifying it was the "Leyson & Rex Associates Banking" in friendly print.

"Neat" Dead Master commented.

"Ah shit, it is" Gin muttered.

"Wait, I thought you said you weren't doin it, canceled or somethin" Riley asked, earning a questioning glance from his brother.

"It was, now we're back on" Ed proclaimed.

"So you two are robbin your grandad's bank again?" Huey asked laconically. The man's smirk rose a notch.

"Nope. That there is a competitor's bank, we're gonna drive them out of town" Ed corrected proudly.

"Cuz old man Wuncler asked you to" Huey said drily.

"Yep" the redhead agreed.

"Slight correction though, this ain't a two person job. The game plan called for five n****s" Gin added. He looked at him confusedly tor a moment, not catching on. In a few seconds his eyes went wide in revelation.

"No way" he murmured.

"I said it was canceled before since those two n****s my boy there was supposed to meet with didn't show" Ed went on. Huey quickly turned around to his suddenly squirming brother, utterly shocked.

"You _what_?!" he shouted.

"Hey hey, chill out, I was just meetin up with them" Riley tried to placate.

"You were goin to _rob a bank_?!" Huey yelled.

"Lower your voice" Dead Master commanded lowly. He sent a brief glare at her before refocusing on the boy, who fidgeted defensively.

"Relax man, its all cool" Ed soothed. Huey stabbed a finger at him, ignoring the men.

"You are not doin this" he said threateningly.

"He is, we all agreed to this like two weeks ago" Gin piped in. All that did was make his eyes narrow.

"Fuck you n****, you not the boss of me" Riley snapped angrily.

"I'm not gonna watch you go to prison" he shot back.

"I won't you paranoid bastard! Ed here has it all taken care of, right?" he nodded to the redhead.

"Fuck yeah n****, all that shits ready" he confirmed enthusiastically.

"Every time you do shit like this, somethin goes wrong. Every fucking time. Not this time, I'm gonna keep you out of this come hell or high water" Huey vowed. His brother tsk'd.

"List one time that my plans gone wrong" Riley challenged.

"The mall santa, Oprah, the chocolate scam, Stinkmeaner, your chain, Gangstalicious, I can go on all goddamn day" he listed off angrily.

"Shut the hell up, both of you" Gin snarled. Huey felt a hand gently touch his shoulder, one that felt far too hard to be made of flesh. Turning his scowling head, he saw Dead Master scowling right back at him.

"Sit down" she said authoritatively, before suddenly shoving him. His cry of surprise was muffled by the soft couch when his face impacted. It didn't hurt of course, he was just stunned at her actions. Pulling his face out from the cushions, he glanced at her questionably. Out of the corner of his vision he noted that Riley had jumped away.

"Better now?" she asked sarcastically. He nodded, his frown reforming.

"That was sick" Riley commented admirably. Both of them shot the boy a hostile look, making him shrink back.

"Anyway, here's the plan" Ed announced. Huey pushed himself back to his feet and made a visible effort of straightening out his clothes.

"I want no part of it then. Later jackasses" he stated before walking to the door. He was almost to it when he heard "so what do I do?" making him stop in his tracks. His torso was still frozen, so he had to use his legs to twist his body around.

"Say what" he said quietly. Her horned head flicked to his direction, along with Ed's.

"Five n**** plan remember? N**** one" he pointed to himself "n**** two" to a nodding Gin "n**** three" to Riley. His finger inexorably moved to the otherworldly girl "n**** number four" he finished. Huey was silent for a moment.

"You do realize she's an alien" he posed. The man-child shrugged indifferently.

"So?" he asked.

"Thats a good thing. No fingerprints, no dental records, completely anonymous" Gin added.

"Besides, this sounds like fun" Dead Master piped in. Huey let his head and arms drop to sigh.

"You got me" he murmured.

"So you in?" Riley yelled from the far side of the room. He resignedly nodded.

"Sweet! Now get yo ass over here, we got plannin to do" Ed commanded.

xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxXXXXXXXXxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx

 _Eastern Woodcrest, the next day..._

In an uncharacteristic display of restraint, the Escalade's sound system was left off. Not entirely by choice; Huey had pointed out that since the mission needed something resembling stealth, it wasn't a good idea to announce to the whole city where they were. The shiny black vehicle still drew attention quite easily however, making heads turn on practically every sidewalk they passed by. More than a few cops tailed them for a distance. Huey groaned at the absurdity of it all.

"Naw naw, I said the twelve hundreds. Twelve hundreds, hear me? Hello? Bruh, I said twelve hundreds, fuck the thousands bullshit" Ed vigorously spoke to no one from behind the wheel. If it wasn't for the smartphone hooked up to his dashboard the youth would've wondered if he was crazy.

"Fuckin iphone bullshit" Gin muttered from the passenger seat. He was hunched up and scanning the road for threats, real or imagined.

The three other co-conspirators were crowded into the backseat. Huey alternated between glancing out the window for location and face palming, Dead Master stared with muted amazement at all the things that passed them by, and Riley was silently fuming in the middle since the other two claimed the windows. None of them were in a particularly good mood, with only the girl not actively upset. Gins earlier recommendation of some fast food blew off some steam, but it failed to get rid of it.

"Why am I in the middle seat?" Riley asked icily.

"Because I called it and you didn't want to argue with her" his brother answered cynically. The boy huffed.

"I call it on the ride back" he claimed.

"On the ride back we're probably gonna be shot at. I don't think it'll matter" he pointed out sourly.

The girl hiccuped. Upon seeing both of their questioning stares she shrugged.

"The sodapop, I think" she said defensively. They continued to stare for another second before returning to their respective griping.

"Alright alright, see ya later bruh" Ed farewelled, reaching out to tap the phone's screen.

"That shit creeps the hell out of me" Gin commented. Ed glanced at him askance.

"Man, we go over this shit every time. New tech isn't the devils work or some bullshit like that" he dismissed.

"I never said a damn thing about devils work. I just don't like new tech is all. Sides, that smartphone thing you got me to buy tried to kill me, remember?" he replied irritably.

"Oh you too?" Riley asked bemusedly. Both men ignored him.

"One time only, I can guarantee that won't happen again" Ed promised.

"Hmm, we'll see about that. That fuckin thing will-hold up" Gun suddenly darted forward, putting one hand on the dash and one on his friend's shoulder. Ignoring Riley's snort again he pointed out the window on the drivers side. Ed looked, and smiled maliciously.

"Thats the place" he announced, with all three of the backseat children glanced out Huey's window.

Ed pulled the escalade up to the curb, amazingly within the lined boundaries. Across the street was the bank, looking moderately impressive in the flesh. Huey examined the building in detail, noting how many people were coming and going. To his relief there wasn't many. He estimated there was hopefully less than fifty customers inside, since it was not even nine a.m. on a tuesday. Two guards stood watch by the main doors, giving cursory looks and greetings to each person that went inside. That on the other hand worried him.

"This is it. Anyone feel like pussin out, nows the time" Ed called out. No one responded, making him grin.

"Alright then, lets get this show on the road" he proclaimed.

At almost the same time the Escalade's four doors opened together. Out of three a single individual exited, out of the fourth two left. Riley cursed under his breath at being the last one out before he joined them in going for the rear of the vehicle. The youth and the girl stopped to wait, while the blonde man crossed his arms to wait as well. The cornrowed boy found, to his aggravation, that he was again last to the gathering. Ed went to the latch and opened the back door.

In the spacious back, there was a poorly stacked supply of duffel bags, spare clothes, and weapons. Lots of weapons. When Huey saw how many there were he couldn't help but groan; despite him telling them not to Ed and Gin brought an arsenal along anyway. The men in question both smirked while they grabbed their weapons first. Two military grade assault rifles in their cases. Left in the bed was a smattering of different weapons for the children to grab.

Riley grinned evilly as he beheld his prize. He grabbed the two handguns that rested on the carpeted bed like a proverbial knight grabbing his sword, giving each of them an excited look before sloppily shoving the barrel into the belt of his pants. After grabbing the black overcoat that Ed insisted they had to have (making them look like cheap action movie 'heroes') in the warm spring day he noticed out of the corner of his eye that his brother was watching him reproachfully, which he scoffed at.

"Like you could do better" he said scornfully.

Huey rolled his eyes before turning back to the stockpile. Having already put on his coat he searched for a gun to use. His original scheme of just a simple pistol was ignored because of how heavily armed everyone else was going for, something that wouldn't be appreciated if/when they got into a shootout (and to avoid being mocked). Instead, he grabbed a submachine gun, an MP5 with an unnecessary laser sight. Conducting a brass check, he nodded in satisfaction when he heard a distinctive double clacking sound. Against his better judgment he looked over.

In Dead Master's claws was a small pump action shotgun, which she was examining with wonder.

"You have to be one of the last people in the world that needs a gun" he said dryly. He noted her coat didn't seem to bother her, considering it was mashing her stubby wings against her back. Apart of him questioned how she was able to put it on without tearing the sleeves.

"But I am one of the first who wants one" she replied distantly. While they spoke each one stuffed the guns into the duffels (save Riley) and shoved underneath their arms, where the buckled strap kept them in place.

Giving his and everyone else's ensembles a critical glance, Ed smiled and jabbed his thumb up.

"We all good? Sweet. Just stash the guns til we get inside, everyone remember the plan?" he asked them.

"I'm the n**** who planned this dumbass" Riley derided.

"Whatever. We got ten minutes before we get the fuck outta here, so lets roll" he said quickly, the children beginning to fall in around him. His stride to the bank was interrupted by Gin grabbing his arm.

"Hold up. Masks?" he pointed out. Ed looked at him blankly for a moment before his eyes widened.

"Oh, shit I bout forgot" he said. He pulled his duffel back out to unzip it, rooting around inside for something to the young members's confusion. After an expectant few seconds he went "ahah" and pulled out a wad of dark fabric. He held the bundle out, apparently wanting them to grab it. Gin was the first, yanking out a piece of whatever it was. When the blonde man held it up to the light Huey discovered it was a black bandana.

After grabbing one for himself he checked to see how they were going to use them. What surprised him was them using the garments sensibly; Gin tied it around his neck but left a large loose flap that could quickly cover everything below his eyes, tucking most of it under his shirt as well. A glance at Riley showed the boy quickly readjusting his own to match theirs. A muted sigh preceded his glance at the last member, who had the bandana held in her hands and was staring confusedly at it.

"Want help?" he asked laconically. Her eyes moved to him, narrowing dangerously.

"Gotta do it like this" Riley said, stunning him by going behind her to help. She hesitated for a moment before passing him the cloth. The boy had to pass it around her neck as opposed to over it, on account of the horns. Once that was done he needed only a few more seconds to get it tied before he backed off, letting her tuck it in herself.

"Thank you" she said lowly. Wearing a satisfied smirk, he nodded proudly.

"Kay, now we good?" Ed asked in annoyance. Upon seeing no further problems he nodded again.

"Finally. Ten minutes, lets go" he declared.

At long last it began. Ed went first, crossing the street with Gin beside him. It was jaywalking, but neither cared. Huey and Dead Master traveled to one corner for the actual crosswalk, Riley walked to the other. The crossing lights held the former two up for several nerve wracking seconds before it indicated go. Looking around, he saw that there wasn't many pedestrians in the immediate vicinity. He was relieved that the risk of casualties was much lower as a result.

For the first time that day Riley wasn't last to the gathering. He reached the men waiting near the main door before the other pair, though only by a few seconds. As per the plan none of them spoke to each other, though it didn't take a genius to realize the five were connected in some way. The odd looks the two guards gave the small gaggle told the afro'd youth as much. Fortunately, for everyone's sakes, they decided not search them. The strange mixture of black boys, white men, and an alien girl were let in with a cursory hello.

Huey shook his head in disbelief as they crossed the threshold into the bank proper. Inside was a layout he thought of as typical. An open space with a roped off waiting line, a large marble counter, potted plants scattered everywhere, and so on. Unusually, there was a large amount of woodwork throughout the area. He dismissed the scenery and focused on what mattered: three guards (all male), three receptionists (all female), five civilians (mixed) that had no idea what was about to happen, He hoped none of them were armed.

Feeling the hefty gun jostle under his arm, he went to the corner of the place to one of the guards. A peek showed his brother doing the same to the other. Ed went right to one of the reception ladies that just finished with a customer, cutting in line to the few other people's annoyance. Dead Master stopped at the end of the waiting line and glanced around, suppressing a grin. Ed stayed near the front doors trying to not look expectant. At a glance everything looked to be going according to plan.

"Can I help you sir?" the clueless receptionist asked friendly. Soft music played as white noise, but it was low enough for him to hear the conversation. Huey hoped that the man-child wouldn't spout some corny one liner before pulling out a weapon; convincing him to not walk in guns blazing (his preferred operating style) was hard enough.

"Yeah, I'd like to make a withdrawal for the Carlisle account" he said, somehow without sounding like a joke. Huey felt relieved enough to sigh gratefully.

"Lets see...ah, Carlisle. How much would you like to withdrawal sir?" she asked. He chuckled, brushing his jacket aside to reveal the very much illegal rifle.

"All of it" he said smugly. Twenty feet away Huey rolled his eyes while tugging up the bandana.

Shaking his annoyance away, he began his part of the plan. The guard had reached for his sidearm while going for his radio, but he saw the black boy by him pull out and point a submachine gun right at him. Widening his eyes, the guard stared helplessly at him, frozen in place. When the barrel of the gun gestured downwards he obeyed at once, sliding his gun away and lying flat on his stomach.

"Drop the gun bitch ass! Thats right, slide it out the way" Riley yelled at his own guard. Sparing a peek at the two he saw that the guard was down as he ordered. He also saw that the boy had both his guns out and was all but hopping around. Again Huey rolled his eyes, seeing that the few customers did the sensible action by getting on their own stomachs and staying quiet beyond a few whimpers.

"Drop the weapon!" yelled the last guard. The youth froze.

The last guard, explicitly Dead Master's to deal with, had his pistol pointed right at the cold eyed girl. Gin noticed from his position brought his rifle to bear on the man. Darting his head around the guard saw his heavily disadvantaged position, yet he stayed in place with the sights of his weapon trained on the girl. None of the three moved for many seconds, and Huey was unwilling to take his attention off of his own man for more than an eye blink.

"Drop. The weapon" the man angrily ordered. The girl didn't move an inch.

"Get on the ground man, before I have to shoot you" Gin told him, his voice eerily calm.

"I did not go through three fucking tours in Afghanistan to get held up by some two bit thugs!" he snapped over his shoulder.

The furious guard took his attention off of the girl for a second at most. When he brought his eyes back around he discovered it was his greatest mistake. Dead Master shifted her stance to whip something at him, the chain wrapping itself around his wrists before he could blink. His two handed hold on his handgun betrayed him, letting her get the better of him immediately. With one contemptuous pull he was yanked off his feet.

He landed in a heap right by her, too quickly to do more than gasp. Amazingly, the gun didn't go off. At once she bent over and twisted the gun from his tight hold. She ignored his moans of pain in favor of examining his sidearm in greater detail for several seconds. Finally she shrugged and tossed it over her shoulder, noticing from the corner of her vision that Huey was staring flatly at her. She responded with a derisive snort.

"My gun got caught on the strap" she said defensively.

"You had one job" he replied flatly.

"Go to hell" she snapped. Watching the bickering, Gin groaned in annoyance.

"Timeframe n****s!" Gin snarled. Both teens snorted, rolling their eyes.

Huey used his gun to make the guard by him move to the center towards his groaning comrade, making sure he didn't go anywhere near his weapon. Riley yelled uncreative abuses at his own hostage to move him as well, the man's features showing disbelief at the situation. Once the three men were in the center area, he left the three under his brother's watch while Gin kept his eyes outside. With that taken care of, he and the girl headed to the counter.

"Move it" Ed urged, furiously gesturing the receptionists out with his M16. When he saw movement out of the corner of his vision he was a heartbeat away from spraying them with gunfire, only stopping when he saw the boys distinctive hairstyle.

"What took you so long? Lets go" he barked, jabbing his hand to the back.

Following his finger, Huey saw their prize: a six by three foot safe, helpfully already opened. Visible to the fluorescent lights was paper money, lots of it. Far too much for their puny duffel bags. Quietly sighing, he pulled the bag from under his shoulder out to unzip it. Looking over, he saw Dead Master doing the same with much less ease. While she jostled it the shotgun she ogled earlier slipped out to fall to the ground. She regarded the gun sourly.

"Why did it come out that time?" she grumbled to herself.

"Doesn't matter, start filling it" Huey said quickly, darting to the safe. He put his arm behind a stack and pulled it towards him, letting the hundreds of packed bills tumble into the yawning opening of his bag. Several wads didn't make it and fell to the side, onto the floor. He forced himself to ignore them, continuing to shove the money inside.

Once he was done he zipped it up to push it aside, turning his torso around to wave her closer. Instead of doing that she tossed her own duffel at him, picking up her gun instead. Frowning, he repeated the procedure with hers. Now thoroughly weighted down, he shoved it out of the way only to have another bag land right by him. The frown morphed into a scowl as he saw Ed readjusting his coat, shrugging indifferently at him.

"I'm busy" he defended weakly. He scowled at him despite the obscuring bandana while filled the bag for the third time. Once that one was zipped up he half expected another to get tossed his way, but fortunately none did. Standing up, he let his sore muscles get readjusted before going to one of the three bags. One tug on the strap told him how it was going to play out.

"I can't carry all three of these" he said laconically. Ed stole a few quick glances at him, scowling at him from under the cover.

"Well try damnit! You're the mule" he snapped.

"We're all supposed to carry one remember?" he snapped back.

Dead Master rolled her eyes. She tossed a glowing object over her shoulder, which quickly transformed into two balls of swirling light. In seconds they dissipated into two beach ball sized black skulls, floating on their own and glowing with a sickly green light. On of the receptionists watched the event and screamed at the top of her lungs. Fortunately for her sake, Ed's bark of "shut the fuck up!" convinced her to clamp her mouth shut. When he followed her wide gaze, he too was temporarily dumbstruck.

"How's this?" she asked blandly. Both man and boy unconsciously gulped.

"Whatever, grab one" Ed commanded.

With a faint gesture the skulls closed in on the youth. He watched as the twin monstrosities approached him, using every once of his willpower to keep from freaking out. They stopped two feet away and opened their unnatural jaws, showing nothing beyond more of the gangrenous light on the inside. Primal fear clouded his thinking, making him need a moment to figure out what he was supposed to do.

He lifted a strap from the closest bag and kept it wide, and the floating object delicately moved to catch it inside its mouth. It closed a second later, keeping it in a secure, if intrinsically horrifying grip. Then, it levitated up. For a heart beat the strap went taunt, the skull seemingly hesitating to rise further. The moment passed, and the eldritch thing lifted into the air with the duffel bag dangling underneath it. Still numb, Huey did the same to the other skull for the same result.

Her fingers twitched to move the floating skulls away, and he hefted the last duffel over his shoulder. His spine protested from the effort, the grimace on his face taking hold. He was glad that the gun had a strap. Panting in effort, he trudged around the counter with the two unnatural creations floating after him. Behind them Dead Master sedately followed the three, a smug grin evident even under the bandana. He thought the day couldn't get worse, which was exactly when it did.

"I hear sirens!" Gin called out. All four of the robbers snapped their heads to attention.

"Alright listen up! None of you bastards saw anythin! Got it?!" Ed shouted. Huey saw a few of the terrified civilians nodding frantically, though the guards kept tight expressions (the middle guard that had dealt with the girl especially).

Riley and Ed darted to the front door while sweeping their guns around for any last minute troublemakers. Dead Master came from around the baggage train to the new gathering. Gin waited until they were all right by it, scanning everyone's face for any sign of fear. He nodded in satisfaction, noting with concern Huey's struggle. His eyes lingered on the floating skulls for a couple of seconds, but he shook his head.

"Y'all ready?" he asked them.

"Lets do this" Ed said determinedly.

"Ready whenever you dumb ass is" Riley cockily answered.

"This will be fun" Dead Master said with dark excitement.

Huey groaned under his burden.

"Okay, on three. One" he held up a hand with a finger extended "two" another raised, with the tension in the air rising with the volume of the sirens.

"Three!" Gin threw the door open.

 _Ninety minutes later..._

Rukus almost didn't open the gate. The sight of the large black vehicle coated with innumerable dents, scratches, and bullet holes leaking steam from the crumpled hood shakily rolling up to the front entrance was so far removed from his list of acceptable beings he could hardly believe it. Only when he exited the guardhouse with the taser from his desk did he finally get a detailed look at the car. Though it was hard to see under the vicious abuse it had suffered, it was clearly an Escalade. When the broken drivers side window came into view, he did a double take.

"Mista Wuncler! Lordy, what the hell happened to yo car!?" he exclaimed. The sour faced Ed quietly sighed.

"A long day. Let us in" he told him, his voice oddly deflated. Rukus snapped a quick salute with his left hand before running back to the switch. The large gate rumbled and opened, and the mangled car trundled through. Rukus gave a concerned nod at the driver and his passenger. When he saw the tired face slumped against the back window he scowled. The car left his post before he could rain insults on the boy, to his considerable disappointment.

The butler that greeted Huey the day before was already out and waiting by the front door, with a half dozen adjutants patiently waiting. The wrecked car's engine stalked a few feet from the customary spot, though its remaining momentum let it coast the remaining distance. A heartbeat after it stopped something loud and metallic rattled out from under the hood, making the volume of steam increased somewhat.

Ed left first, his door creaking uncomfortably as he pushed it open. The door behind his also opened, showing Huey with dark circles under his eyes. On the other side Gin's door started to open before something snapped, making it fall off its hinges entirely to crash to the ground. The blonde man stared cynically at it, too won out to give more than a token curse. Riley had better luck with his own, and he looked to be in marginally better condition than the others. Last was Dead Master, who hopped out with bounce to her step.

"Mister Wuncler, good to see you. Are you well?" the butler asked cordially. With his shoulders slumped he trudged away from the wrecked car.

"Yeah yeah. I'm gonna go take a nap" he said tiredly, brushing passed him.

"Your grandfather is returning later, may I ask what you want done with your car?" he questioned.

"Its my fuckin car" Gin bitterly protested, who had stopped to look over the vehicle with a pained expression.

"Get rid of it" was the young heir's laconic response.

The rest of the group sans the girl were fumbling with the back latch for a moment before it released. In contrast from earlier the door didn't lift under its own power, making the man have to hold the door up. Huey and Riley reached inside to pull out two heavy looking duffel bags, miraculously untouched by whatever had torn the vehicle a new one. They both groaned in effort to lift the heavy bags, unable to lift them up further than a foot off of the ground. Dead Master quickly reached inside to grab one of her own to carry, slinging it over her shoulder without a care.

"My fuckin car" Gin mumbled as the impromptu convoy walked passed the awaiting butler. As they did, he caught the acrid scent of gunpowder from all of them. He watched them strangely until they were out of sight, wondering if he was going to see their antics on the evening news. Shaking his concerns away, he turned to his newest task.

"Alright, strip everything salvageable out if it. Someone give the tow service a call. Where's the closest scrapyard? And where did that supply of chlorine vanish to?" he called out orders to the assembled butlers, who quickly took to their tasks. He circled the car to inspect how severe the damage was, incidentally discovering something unusual on the other side: a large gash that spanned from the front fender almost to the rear.

Inside, the procession labored to return back to Ed's recreation room.

"That was some bullshit" Ed muttered.

"Why was I the only one that was carrying the cash?" Huey sourly asked.

"You should be asking why you shot my goddamn stereo?" Gin shot.

"It was too loud, none of you could hear anything" he tiredly defended.

"It was my stereo, all you had to do was turn it down" he said angrily.

"We were being shot at, Ed was trying to call some bitch, and so on. Telling you to shut it off wasn't an option" he tiredly replied.

"I liked that song" Dead Master said wistfully. Riley snorted.

"Really? DMX is a bitch" he declared.

"I still liked that song" she retorted.

"By the way" Huey looked over his shoulder "why exactly did you feel the need to climb out the window, kicking me in the stomach in the process, to get on top of the car?"

"Because I couldn't use my weapons while I was cramped up like that" Dead Master answered..

"Like the shotgun that jumped out of your hands when you fired it?" he asked drily.

"More like my scythe. Its been a while since I used it" she answered without pause.

"Hey, while he's at it, why did you try slicin the side that I was on?" Riley turned to question. She shrugged apologetically.

"Wasn't trying to, I was about to fall off" she defended.

In due time the mixed group came to the room. Ed swung the door open to trudge inside, his partners in crime following him in the same way, with one exception. The redhead took his favorite lounge chair, falling back into his puffy embrace. Huey and Gin flopped onto one of the couches, while Riley sank into the other, al, three dropping the bags of money by the door. Collectively they groaned, the stress of the last two and a half hours beginning the slow process of bleeding away.

Dead Master made a beeline to the mini fridge, discovering with delight some oranges.

"Man, I'm beat" Ed said to no one in particular.

"No kiddin" Gin mumbled. Riley turned his head around, spotting the laptop sitting on it's own. He reached over to drag it closer.

"I missed two days of school. For this" Huey murmured to himself.

Dead Master walked away from the snacks to the group, leaning over the back of Riley's couch.

"What're doing?" she asked the boy. He had the laptop on his lap and was loading a video.

"Watchin funniest fails. Check this one out" he pointed to the caption, which read 'interview gone wrong' in bold print. She hunched over the back to watch.

After buffering for a moment it opened to a news set up. A reporter was standing beside a dark skinned man with white hair wearing a red coat, both muttering something and glancing off screen. Behind them was a busy street in some city, with a corner mart just visible on the edge of the screen. At some unseen cue they both straightened up.

"Staff sergeant Archer, what're your thoughts on the recent dilemma over the UK's decision to purchase new unmanned ariel vehicles, or UAVs for short, from the Euro group as opposed to the United States?" The reporter asked, his manner of speaking strange to the girl's ears. Huey turned his head to the pair upon hearing the topic.

"Well I think thats its a wise choice. I know we have a pretty close setup with the Americans, but we're not an extension of them. A thing like this should show them we can operate on our own. Last I checked this is the United Kingdom, not Airstrip One" the red coated man answered.

"Is this the army's official position?" the reporter asked.

"No comment" Red coat said quickly.

"Is Nineteen Eighty Four popular among the army?" Reporter pressed. Red coat suddenly turned to stride away. Reporter exchanged an disbelieving glance at the cameraman before jogging after the man, the formerly steady camera becoming nauseatingly jerky as it bounded after the two. Reporter jogged right to Red coat's side, the words tumbling out of his mouth.

"Sir sir! The interviews not over!" he protested. Red coat sent a scowl at him before shoving him away. The incredulous expression on Reporter's face brought a chuckle from Riley.

"You can't do that!" he screeched.

Red coat's reply was a right hook. Reporter staggered, before coming up with his own punch. In juts a few seconds the two otherwise civilized men had devolved into a twisted pile of flailing limbs and curses. The cameraman kept a steady line on them both. Riley was laughing at the display, and he glanced at the girl to see her laugh. Instead, he saw an empty expression. Her green eyes were fixated on the screen, but she wasn't seeing what he was. One of her hands reached over the top to pinch ahold of the computer, the other came to a rest on his shoulder.

She lifted up at the same time she shoved the boy away.

Huey jolted up. The power behind her action wasn't enough to send him flying, and the soft couch cushioned his landing. Nevertheless he cried out in pain, grabbing both of the men's attentions. Ignoring his aching muscles he forced himself off his comfortable seat, to go to her side. His own hard expression fell when he saw her face deepen into a scowl. He peeked at the screen, noting that she paused the video. Onscreen was the ongoing brawl, a thinly populated street, and little else.

"What'd you do that for?" he demanded of her anyway.

"Thats her" Dead Master snarled. Confused, Huey looked at the screen again. Her extended claw hovered right above the screen at something in the background of the video. He squinted, at first not seeing whatever it was that had her so riled. Then he saw it; a girl with pale skin and weird clothes. Swiveling his eyes to her, he saw one of the purest expressions of hate that he had ever witnessed.

"What is that?" he said quietly. Her response was almost a bestial growl.

 **"Black Rock Shooter."**

 **Dead Master's theme music: First Person Shooter - Celldweller.**

 **xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxXXXXXXXXxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx**

 **A/N: so it begins. Next chapter will finally link up with Koko & Friends (tm). Stay tuned.**


	5. Chapter 5

Jazmine Dubois was having a good day. The naive biracial girl thought it was a good day thus far, though the past several other days were good as well.

Her friend Judy had a birthday just four days earlier, and she was invited to the event. There was cake (she could hardly imagine a party without cake), music, and a brand new moped that she got to take for a spin. It was a load of fun from start to finish. Since then, everything had been, as her father sometimes said, Hunky Dory.

There was one problem though. Someone that she wanted to share the great times with was MIA from practically everything. Jazmine was naive, but no fool (upon reflection she mentally added 'just a little' after that). Her afro haired friend was a callous cynic that always seemed to be fighting something. Metaphorically with planned protests or campaigns, and rarely literally with actual violence. She knew there were times he would vanish off the face of the earth with little explanation, being involved with things beyond her keen.

But for the past couple of days it was different. Every time she tried to call him it went to voicemail. All of her emails went unopened. Unless it was life threatening, he never failed to at least leave a message. This left Jazmine feeling worried for his safety. Hence she found herself tagging along with her father on a surprise trip to visit the Freeman household after school on Thursday. Her concern was noticed by him, but he choose not to make an issue of it.

Tom's BMW sedately pulled up to their stop. With all the ease of years of practice he turned into their driveway to park midway. The only reason the girl didn't unclip her seatbelt the moment they were stopped was because of her safety conscious father (her mother would've let her under the condition that he never found out). When the engine did shut off she was already scrambling out the door before he could raise any protest.

Youthful enthusiasm accounted for part of her decision to sprint to their front door far ahead of Tom, but far from all. Her tiny knuckles rapped on the wooden barrier an eye blink after she came to a halting stop in front of it. A quick swing of her thickly haired head confirmed her slow father was approaching her at what seemed like a pathetic pace. The clicking latch brought her full attention back to in front of her.

Her hopeful expression sank as she beheld the tired face of Robert that cooly regarded the girl staring at him.

"Jazmine" he said blandly, glancing behind her to the caught up Tom.

"Tom. Nice to see you" the elder Freeman greeted with a total lack of sincerity. His friend nodded back, easily picking up on his mood.

"Afternoon Robert. Are you alright?" Tom asked without preamble. The old man sighed.

"Haven't been sleepin good the past few days. Ah well. Come on I guess" he said, stepping inside. Jazmine scampered inside to search around while Tom followed her in, sending a concerned look at her.

"Thanks Robert. I've been meaning to ask you about your plans for the upcoming NFL game, you never did clarify where-" Tom started but Robert cut him off.

"Hold that thought. Jaz, Hueys in his room" he told her. The girl's eyes lit up and she dashed up the stairs. He nodded in satisfaction.

"Now thats done. Anyway, I was gonna check if Sarah was gonna be home for..."

Jazmine tuned out the rest. Since she had been in his house numerous times before she knew where his bedroom was without giving it a second thought. But as she reached for the knob she paused; there was a sliver of light in the center of the door that wasn't there the last time she visited. It was about a foot long vertically and half an inch or so wide, with rough edges. It was like something had stabbed the door. Gulping away her nervousness, she grasped the doorknob and twisted, pushing it open a few inches.

" _Thats it!?_ " demanded the meticulously angry girl. Jazmine felt fear the moment she heard the voice, needing a second to force it down.

"I'm trying damnit! You know how hard it is to track someone like that this? Count your blessings I found this much" Huey shot back frustratedly. Letting out a breath, she swung it wide open.

Jazmine scanned the room, noting who was in there. Dead Master, with the back of her dress exposing the two stubby wings, looked over her shoulder appearing annoyed. Huey was plopped in the chair by his personal desk with his computer running, also peeking her way. Surprisingly Caesar was there too, hunched over another computer on the boy's bed. He was the last to discover her presence, looking up at her with dull interest.

"Hey Jazzy" the dreadlocked boy greeted before returning to his task. Huey groaned, dropping his head onto a supporting hand. She looked on uncertainly until his other hand waved her in.

"Hi Huey. Um, whats going on here?" Jazmine asked carefully, closing the door behind her. Dead Master crossed her arms and stared at her, making the girl profoundly uncomfortable.

"We're tryin to find somebody" he answered dully.

"Who?" she asked. In lieu if answering he pointed at the alien girl, who scowled. Nevertheless she grabbed a piece of paper off of his desk to present it to her. Carefully she took it.

The quality of the picture was severely lacking. It was heavily pixilated and low on detail. At the same time, there was enough to see the zoomed in individual (if the marker circle around the person wasn't enough help). Squinting, she was sure the person in the photo was a girl. A girl with pale skin, a black coat, and an unusual amount of skin showing. It reminded her of one person in particular. Jazmine looked up at the one, who was in a foul mood.

"That girl in the photo. Her name is _Black Rock Shooter_ " Dead Master pronounced the three words with venom.

"And she wants to know where she is" Huey added. Jazmine slowly nodded after a second of thought.

"So, this is why you haven't been coming to school?" she asked.

"Exactly. She's been threatening to lop my head off if I don't put everything else on hold to deal with it" he explained. He knew her wrinkling expression of horror was coming, and he was already on top of things.

"Anyway, progress has been slow. I would appreciate a fresh set of eyes to go over what me and Caesar found" he said. Her horror was quickly overtaken by elation.

"You want my help?" she asked excitedly.

"Yeah. Caesar has all the info we've gathered so far. But first, c'mere" he said. Rising from his chair, he waved her closer to something on the other side of his desk. Sparing an uncertain look at Dead Master, she toed around the girl like a dangerous animal before going right to his side. He pointed at the wall, which she followed to discover a large world map with several tacks stuck on.

"At first I didn't know how I was going to track this Shooter being, but I figured it out. Kinda simple really" he explained.

"How?" Jazmine asked, counting ten tacks. All but two were clustered in Europe or northern Africa, one in Southeastern Asia, the last in North America. He smiled grimly.

"Follow the bodies" he said calmly, getting a shocked look from her. He put his finger to the map, onto the first tack.

"Double homicide in a park in Woodcrest" he listed. Wrinkling her brow, Huey had to discreetly nod behind her. A hesitant peek confirmed the obvious presence.

"Thats what gave me the clue. After that, just had to find any odd murders that police couldn't explain. Within the past three months, here's whats happened" he started. His finger moved to the next tack, a spot in southern Egypt.

"A refinery owned by a chinese company is slaughtered to a man. Sixty people or so" he listed off. To the next "two days before that, two local contract killers are found murdered outside Alexandria. There was a single survivor, but that one was a vegetable afterwards. Must've seen somethin that shattered his-"

" _Her_. Female" Caesar corrected. Huey rolled his eyes.

"Whatever, her mind. Cops couldn't get any information from them. Forensics show that one was beheaded, the other was stabbed in the chest that went through to the other side. Through a bulletproof vest. Before that" he pointed to a spot in Southeastern Europe.

"A member of a humanitarian group, Outspoken Doctors for Human Rights, reported that a local militia was wiped out by a combination of their mercenary bodyguards and a strange girl wearing unusual clothes. It was a footnote sadly, nothing else" he swept his hand across the map to the border of the Pacific.

"A cargo ship out of Singapore was attacked by pirates. Luckily for them a warship from the Thai navy was nearby and managed to drive them off. However, the ships crew reported a young girl among the pirates that killed several people" his hand returned to the center, this time going to Great Britain.

"Another double homicide. Victims were two local sex offenders. The case was closed weeks ago, due to no leads. Before that" he dropped to the lower end of Africa.

"The bodies of a team of chinese security personnel are found in the mountains near Cape Town. Most of them were killed by conventional gunfire, but several of the bodies showed slash wounds, which the coroner hesitantly labeled as 'sword related' in his report" he rose it the Arabian Peninsula.

"Two more assassins were killed in a gunfight in Dubai. One was killed by a foreign businessman's bodyguard, you can guess what killed the other one" he moved his hand to the last tack, in the center of Europe.

"Brussels. No murders, but several witnesses claim to have seen a girl fall out of a several story building and survive, though she was then hit by a bus. When local police arrived, there was no sign of her" he finished, lowering his hand and facing her.

"All of this happened in the past three months. Before that, there was a quadruple murder twenty years ago, but that predates this by a pretty wide margin. You getting all of this?" Huey asked her. She nodded shakily.

"This Rock girl's k-killed a lot of people" Jazmine said.

"That she has. What confuses me though is that apart from South Africa and the pirate attack all of these occurred in the same general space, Europe and North Africa. I think she's got support from someone, but if Dead Master is anything to go by she's probably anti-social. If that's the case then whoever it is could perhaps be contracting her out" he explained, pointing to the two out of bounds tacks.

"Um, what do you want me to do?" Jazmine asked after a moment.

"Look over the info we've gathered, see if you can spot something either of us missed" he said simply, pointing to the dreadlocked boy. She nodded and trundled over to the bed. Dead Master watched her move, then switched back to the afro'd boy as he resumed his post in front of the computer.

"How exactly can she help?" she questioned, disregarding the girl that was just a few feet away.

"As I said, fresh eyes. More than you're doing" he shot back. Her scowl deepened and her clawed hands curled into fists, though she ultimately did nothing about it. She knew he was the one person that could help her find Black Rock Shooter, and he knew it all too well.

Caesar moved himself over a few inches to set the laptop between Jazmine and himself, moving a few papers as well.

"So, how long have you been here?" she asked him.

"This morning. He called me up last night for this and like an idiot I agreed. Never thought I'd be trying to find an alien on a thursday, thats for sure" he answered. Clicking on the image files, she realized something else.

"Where's Riley?"

"Took off for somethin. Dunno what, don't care" he answers again. The naive girl scanned over the various information, ranging from security pictures to reports to newspaper excerpts.

Huey knew what she was doing was a fools errand. He and Caesar had scanned over the mountain of data several times, looking for any connection. If there was one, which he was willing to stake his life on, it was too well hidden to be found by any layman. He gave her the task anyway; he had been avoiding her lately, so merely kicking her out would hurt her feelings. Perhaps enough to make her hate him. Wanting to avoid that, gave her something to do. Though the chances were remote, she could potentially spot something they overlooked.

No matter what happened, he promised himself that he would praise her for helping-

"The same woman" she said, breaking his train of thought. He looked over to her uncomprehendingly.

"I found the same woman in three of these spots. Look" Jazmine took the computer from Caesar and brought it to him.

"Here. The Dubai place, the businessman was actually a woman. And here" she needed to fumble with it for a moment in order to bring up the next file.

"The same group the doctor people hired are here" she pointed at the screen, and fumbled again to bring up the last.

"That Alexandria case? The police investigated a woman. The same one as the other two" she explained, pointing at the corner of the screen away from anything relevant.

Huey gently took the computer from her to look over what she just told him. The report that he scanned over but didn't read before saving was before him. Just three lines in, he saw the name. He quickly brought up the ODH case, reading back through it. The woman's name was further in. Lastly he checked the Dubai news portion. The name, an odd mix of western and eastern, stared at him accusatorially.

"Koko Hekmatyr" he said aloud. Caesar and Dead Master raised their respective eyebrows in confusion, while Jazmine nodded proudly.

"That's the one" she said proudly.

"Hekmatyr? What kinda name is that?" Caesar asked.

"How is this woman connected?" Dead Master questioned.

"Why does that sounds familiar..." Huey said to himself as the internet explorer was opened.

"Hey, can I have my laptop back? Its kinda expensive" Caesar carefully asked.

"In a minute" he said distantly.

Both the dreadlocked boy and the horned girl exchanged confused looks. The former knew his friend got into strange moods on occasion, sinking himself up to his neck in whatever cause he decided was worth it at the moment. All the signs of being sunk were right in front of him. The latter didn't know any of this, but she recognized obsession when she saw it. She merely crossed her arms and waited for him to finish, running off of diminishing patience. Jazmine looked at each of them in turn, utterly lost.

On his part Huey had gone for the quickest route: Google, Koko Hekmatyr, results. As he scanned over the pages however he saw very little mention of the name. No social media account, no contact information, very few instances of the name at all. What was there instead was a much longer name, one that tickled his memory in a way that was going to drive him insane.

"HCLI" he murmured. Caesar's brow wrinkled.

"Hang on, I've heard that before" he said. His friend looked up, and he saw out of the corner of his eye that Dead Master was doing the same.

"Remember that school project? The same day she showed up" he jabbed a thumb at the girl "we had to do a presentation. It was for those military drones on Europe" he explained. Huey's eyes were blank for a moment before he recalled.

"I think my group said something about that too" Dead Master said to herself.

"Yeah. I'm still sore about you making me present it too" the boy said sourly.

"HCLI...drones...wait a minute" Huey quickly said to himself before diving back in. In seconds he had his answer.

"Um...what're you guys talking about..." Jazmine said uncertainly.

"Got it. The company that made the deal was HCLI. This woman works for them, probably an executive or somethin. But that doesn't..." his eyes narrowed as he scanned the screen.

"Doesn't what?" Dead Master said tightly.

"Numerous conflicts with the Daxinghai trading company" he murmured.

"Slow down man, you're losin me" Caesar protested.

"Daxinghai is a chinese owned company that does security work in Africa. They also own numerous refineries and industrial plants, including...a factory in Cape Town, South Africa" he listed off. Jazmine was the only one to snap her head to the map.

"Thats the lowest spot!" she excitedly pointed out.

"And a newer refinery in Northern Africa, about eight hundred miles from Alexandria. Same one that was massacred" he listed off triumphantly, at odds with the macabre information.

"Wait, why'd it get slaughtered?" Caesar interrupted.

"Business rivals. Makes sense to bump off the opposition" Huey offered.

"So, what exactly is ach-see-el-eye? I'm confused" Dead Master questioned irritably.

"Officially its a multinational shipping company. But from what I'm gathering here, they also are involved in semi-legal to illegal weapons trafficking throughout the world. They apparently got operations in South America, Africa, and East Asia. Arms dealers" he said with scorn. He saw that while Jazmine and Caesar understood him via their horrified expressions, Dead Master was drawing a blank.

"They sell guns and military equipment the highest bidder. They make money by setting the world on fire" he explained contemptuously. She nodded, showing very little opposition to the morally unspeakable action he just described. In fact, there was a shine to her green eyes that had him worried,

"So, what're you goin to do?" Caesar asked slowly and very carefully, concerned that he was about to put an idea in his friend's mind that he would come to regret. The boy leaned his head back contemplatively.

"Why is this Rock girl working for these people anyway?" Jazmine asked, all to aware of the angry flash over the horned girl's face.

"I'm not sure. Maybe it was similar to what happened with Dead Master here, just right place at the right time. And she just took her along. Willingly I bet" he nodded to her.

"Makes sense. But that doesn't answer the question" Caesar pointed out.

"I know...then there's the South Africa and the East Asia incidents to consi-" Huey stopped mid sentence, his eyes going wide.

"Um, dude?" Caesar waved a hand in front of his face to no effect. He also took the chance to snag his laptop back.

"Oh...no...no...no..." he mumbled to himself in abject terror.

"Huey?" Jazmine asked plaintively.

"Arms dealer" he said quietly.

"Yeah. You said that already" Dead Master said annoyedly.

"This Koko woman's an arms dealer. You're here" he pointed at her "and this Shooter girls with her as some kind of personal hitman" he continued hoarsely.

"Your point?" she said sternly.

"Is it just two?" he said at last. This time all three of the room's occupants exchanged looks.

"How do we know its just you and her on Earth? As a matter of fact, there can't be" he said quickly, becoming more agitated by the second.

"This Koko woman must've discovered a way to your people's home world. And she's getting your people to earth, and sold to the highest bidder" Huey said quickly.

"Like slavery" Jazmine said worriedly.

"Worse. They probably don't even realize how wrong it is. And of your leaders find out humans have been basically turning their people into warrior slaves..." Huey bolted to his feet, briefly surprising the trio. He started to dash to the door, but paused to get back to Jazmine in order to grab her shoulders and turn her to face him.

"Jazmine, thank you" he said quickly. Then, in a completely unexpected twist, his lips tapped against hers. He was out the door before the other two could react.

"What just happened?" Dead Master asked.

"I...have no idea. Really, I don't" Caesar said slowly. Jazmine fainted and fell backwards, fortunately onto the bed. She had a sappy smile on her face.

Huey barreled down the stairs as fast as his legs could carry him. Swinging around the bannister, he powered to the living room, where the two men were still talking.

"I'm just sayin, you do have the better television" Robert pointed out.

"I know. But as I said before, there's less chance of Sarah spoiling the get together if we're here" Tom went on. Whatever he was going to say next was interrupted by Huey stomping up to him to grab his arm.

"Mister Dubois, I need your help" he panned without an ounce of humor.

"Um, sure. Whats the problem?" he uncertainly asked him.

"A Pimp Named Slickback. I need his number. Now" he answered, causing both men to drop their jaws.

"Whah? What the hells gotten into you boy?" Robert demanded incredulously.

"He's got somethin I don't have: technical expertise and the resources to use them" Huey told him, making the men inwardly sigh in relief.

"Well, where do I start? Why on earth would you need the help of a man like that?" Tom asked disbelievingly. The boy's eyes narrowed.

"I found somethin important. I don't have time to explain, just gimme his number" he said irritably.

"But um" Tom tried to continue protesting even as he pulled his phone from his pocket. Though it had been years since he last had contact with the detestable man, he still had his number saved to his contact list. Even five cellphones later, he had the number listed. He hesitated for a second before clicking the call icon.

Huey snatched the device from his hands and ignored the meek man's protests.

 _Hours later..._

The setting sun gave him a small measure of relief. While many people were still around, there was far less than bright daylight. Much less chance to be seen. At least that was what Huey told himself, taking a second to glance to his side. As he expected, despite his bike the alien girl was keeping up with him effortlessly.

He ceased pedaling to coast the remaining distance. Up ahead was a large estate, from the outside a pale shadow compared to rather ostentatious Wuncler mansion. Even so, against his own house it was quite impressive. If only the neighbors knew what financed the home, though he suspected they already did. They would have to know, and in the process perhaps helped pay for it.

Stopping at the front gate, he peeked back at Dead Master to discover that she wasn't even winded. As usual he suppressed a flash of irritation (to his discomfort there was a hint of envy added in) and went to the discreet buzzed box by one of the pillared supports for the gate. Clicking on the call button, he wondered if he would actually be let in. When the box crackled he unconsciously held his breath.

"Huey Freeman and guest. You may enter" said the smooth female voice. Relief that he dared not show flooded into him, and he perfunctorily remounted his bike to pedal in. He didn't need to look to know she was right behind him.

Just as he reached the front door it swung open, revealing a well endowed and exceptionally beautiful woman waiting for him. He took a second to put his kickstand down before striding in.

A quiet whistle came from Dead Master as she surveyed the surroundings. Large paintings of a bearded black man wearing a purple suit were scattered on the walls, interspersed with similar ones showing beautiful women in various poses and outfits, no two the same. Expensive furniture decorated the rooms, and thick carpets yielded under her feet. The atmosphere was at once both relaxing and enticing. She would've taken a moment to appreciate it if Huey had stopped powering after the woman. Making a mental note to do so later, she brought herself back to the world, just in time to avoid bumping into the stopped boy.

The gilded door they stopped in front of opened, revealing a man. It took Dead Master a moment to realize it was the same man from the paintings. He was far less imposing in person, with his purple hat and purple tinted glasses on his head to go with his predominantly purple suit. In his hands was a black cane with what looked like a jewel on the pommel. If it was a weapon she wasn't in the least bit impressed.

"Mista Freeman" he greeted, both grand and dry. Huey looked to begin a reply when the lanky man brushed passed him to the girl. Putting his free hand to his chin, he hummed to himself as he inspected her. She bristled under the attention, especially when he circled her. Just as the consideration to disembowel him he returned ti the front and nodded appreciably.

"What you got there mista Freeman is a prime specimen of embryonic bitch. Good proportions, excellent shape, and she has the good sense to keep her trap shut. The ornamentation shit has to go of course, but other than that, near perfect. Another four years or so and she'll be a fine bitch" he said approvingly.

"If you call me a bitch one more time I will gut you" Dead Master politely threatened. His response was a curt grunt.

"Strike out the silent bit" he said to himself.

"Anyway A Pimp Named Slickback, can he get on with it?" Huey interrupted sourly. The purple man errantly waved.

"Very well then. Miss, in four years or so give me a call. I'll have a spot open for you" he said to her, who scowled back. That spoken, he spun on his heals to stride through the door.

Following him, the two found the near opposite of what they were expecting. The darkened room was save from pitch blackness by the banks of computer screens against the far wall. Behind them the guide closed the door. For a second Dead Master was alert for a trap, but seeing Huey still the same way he was before it calmed her just enough to stop her from summoning her scythe. Shaking her head, she needed a second to discern a woman in front of the monitors.

"Quiet Storm, we have a job to do" the pimp called out. The woman (another busty one) pushed her chair away to observe the two.

"Will do Daddy. Alright lad, whats the target?" she, Quiet Storm, perfunctorily asked him. Huey nodded and grabbed the crumpled piece of paper from his pocket to hand it over. Taking it, the woman scanned over the picture.

"Her names Koko Hekmatyr. I need you to send a message to her" Huey explained. She and the man huffed.

"Child's play. Give me five minutes" she said to him, spinning back to the computers.

Dead Master folded her arms. Though it rubbed at her, the current event was entirely out of her clawed hands. She knew the only thing to do was to wait patiently. However, the difference between Huey explaining what she needed to do and being in a dark room with an obnoxiously dressed man she wanted to kill _oh so badly_ with nothing to do but breath the strange tasting air and listen to the quiet but incredibly annoying clicking sounds wore at her already short temper.

Huey sensed she was plotting to murder someone nearby. As much as he wished to do something to prevent it, he logically concluded that there was nothing that he could do. Changing the circumstances was next to impossible, and the last thing he wanted to do was leave her out of sight. The last time that happened she played a prominent role in a case of grand larceny.

"And done" Quiet Storm announced, making him sigh in relief.

"Good work. Whatchu got?" the purple man firmly asked her.

"Private email access. It was a lot tougher going than I expected, she's got one hell of a firewall. I'd love to meet the programer" she praised.

"Nuff kiss ass. Mista Freeman" he gestured him forward. Huey went to the woman's side (politely ignoring her appearance) to see her current screen. Predictably, most of the information was gibberish to him.

"Whats the order?" she asked him.

"A message. Email. Make sure its traceable to at least the local level" he explained.

"Alright, done" she clacked on her keys, making flashes of incomprehensible data fly past him. That kept up until something he recognized came up: an email screen.

"What do you want it to say?" she asked again. A clawed hand gently touched his shoulder, easing the surprised boy back.

"I'll speak for this" Dead Master said coldly.

"...Okay then. What do I write?" Quiet Storm asked. The horned girl cocked her head to the side for a moment, thinking up a good letter.

"Miss Hekmatyr" she saw that the words followed her speech by seconds "there is someone in your employ that has my undivided attention. A certain young girl by the name of Black Rock Shooter" even here, the sheer hate made was obvious "I want to arrange a meeting as soon as possible. If you have doubts, just ask her who Dead Master is" she finished. Stepping back, she glanced at the frowning boy. She smirked.

"How was that?" she taunted.

"Add Black Steel for who its from. And replace 'I want to' with 'its of great importance'. You got that?" Huey sourly told her. A few more clicks echoed out.

"Changed. Want me to send?" she asked. Huey took a deep breath.

"Do it" he ordered. One more click, and then all they had to do was wait. Anxiety gnawed at his nerves, doubts crawling at his mind.

A beep came from the computer, making him raggedly exhale.

"Its done. She'll get the message anytime" Quiet Storm reported. A Pimp Named Slickback huffed satisfactorily. The youth turned to the alien girl that had given him so much grief.

"You sure about this?" he asked her uncertainly, showing doubt. She stepped into the muted light of the monitors. Her black dress blended in to the darkness, making her pale skin stand out. Her horns swayed with her nodding. Unseen by him, her unnatural green eyes focused on the display, though it meant nothing to her. Her thoughts were far away, but close at the same time.

"Entirely" Dead Master said.

xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxXXXXXXXXxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx

 **Omake** : **gaming shenanigans...**

"Whats this?" asked Dead Master. The Wuncler mansion was mind boggling to her perspective, but she was finding the contents of the home more interesting than the rest of it.

Ed looked up with a flash of irritation. Before him was a large television with a small black box before it, with wires snaking to them both. In his hands was a tiny white object that had a number of buttons over it.

"Its a video game, ain't you ever seen one before?" he questioned.

"I haven't. Is it fun?" she asked back. He smirked.

"Hell yeah its fun. Owning sumbifches from here to korea is kickass" he said enthusiastically. She smiled.

"Can I try?" she asked excitedly. Ed mulled the idea over for a second before shrugging.

"Wy the fuck not. C'mere" he patted the couch seat next to him. She vaulted over the back like it was nothing to land right where his hand was. Taking a moment to get comfortable, she found that the device in his hands was roughly shoved into hers.

"Alright, this button moves you, this one shoots..." Ed pointed to each button in turn, explaining it to the best of his limited ability. After five minutes she was mostly certain of the gist. Ready to begin, she focused on the TV and clicked the A button.

Call of Duty: Black Ops 3 was in the background of the waiting screen, with numerous names on a roster. One was highlighted, ' _xxtheTruDaymanxx_ '. She guessed it was her name for the game. The screen went black, and she readied herself.

Twelve seconds after she started she died. Ed consoled her, telling her that was normal. The next try she managed to kill somebody before she died. The time after that she got a kill streak. So it went, Dead Master gaining a skill for gaming at a speed that surpassed anyone that Ed knew off (faster than most people on earth in fact).

"Damn girl, you good at this" Ed praised. All too soon the match ended. Grinning from ear to ear, she quickly joined a new game. Seconds after it began she died via a knife to the back.

' _Hakkapalle117x12_ killed you' the game offered as an explanation. Frowning, she respawned. She made it as far as getting another player before she died again, again to a knife.

"You got yourself a nemesis" Ed joked, realizing she wasn't smiling.

Five minutes passed. Each time she died to _Hakkapalle117x12_ her anger grew. It grew and grew, until the controller creaked in her hands. Ed, in a rare display of sensitivity, decided that it was enough games for one day. His first and only attempt to get the controller from her hands ended when she quickly summoned her scythe to slam it into the floor.

"I will flay you alive" she threatened to the TV. On the screen, she died again. A claymore this time.

 _Thousands of miles away..._

"Hey guys, I'm heading out for coffee what the hell" Valmet stopped in dull shock. In the building there was a game room, where some of the men sometimes spent theur off time. Why was a question beyond her, but it did narrow down her search.

Inside Lutz and Mao were egging on Black Rock Shooter, who had a game controller in hand. On the TV screen was the newest shooter game she had certainly seen trailers for but possessed no knowledge other than that. A quick check showed the player was the girl.

"Hey Valmet. Check it, Rocks a pro" Lutz praised. Mao nodded, smiling.

"You got the non-human killing machine playing video games" she said dryly.

"Yep. Half an hour and she's already tournament material" Mao explained.

"Why am I surprised? Oh well. Having fun Rock?" she asked her.

Black Rock Shooter ignored her, instead she focused on the game. Peeking at it, Valmet was unsurprised to see it was the same type of thing they did for a living. On screen, a target died by a knife to the back. According to the tiny message, the victim was a ' _xxtheTruDaymanxx_ '.

"I'll take that as a yes. Anyway, I'm doing a cappuccino run, who wants what?"


	6. Chapter 6

_Cyprus, the next day..._

The atmosphere in the hospital room was tense. The eleven people, who were rudely torn from their already short R&R, found themselves contemplating the impossible. Nowhere was this more evident than the pale woman at the center of the room. She usually wore a smile, whether in the baking heat or the ice cold, in civil conversation or under fire. She was not smiling now.

"Got it. Whoever this guy is, he's good" Tojo said admiringly, hunched over his computer.

"Where's it from?" Lehm questioned. He began to reach for a cigarette, but five reproachful looks (including one from a passing doctor) made him abandon that quest.

"Lets see... Ah damn. Maryland. America" the japanese man reported, to the team's collective disappointment.

"Of course it has to be america" R muttered. Dark circles lined his eyes, courtesy of the red eye flight from Rome.

"What do you guys think? CIA?" Lehm asked them.

"Doubt it, not their MO" Wiley dismissed. From the bed in the center of the room, the occupant muffled a groan.

"Besides, wouldn't it make more sense for them to try to bust us in the middle of a job?" Valmet said tightly, a grimace threatening to take hold.

"Agreed. If they wanted to get rid of us permanently it'd be better to do it in the sticks" Lutz added. Mao nodded with him.

"So its not CIA. Who then? Some other group?" Ugo questioned.

"We're forgetting one important fact gentlemen" Koko interrupted. Rather than explaining, she turned to the last two members. Leaning against the wall was Jonah. Standing beside him was a downcast Black Rock Shooter with her arms folded. The very fact she didn't have her customary neutral expression was troubling enough.

"Rock" Koko said. The girl looked up to focus on her, letting her wandering thoughts leave her for a moment.

"Dead Master" Koko stated.

At once her face twisted into a snarl, her teeth baring. At once her hand untangled to slam her elbow against the wall, making a resounding boom. Sucking in a breath, Black Rock Shooter suddenly realized that the group had their attention focused solely on her. Each one (with the sole exception of the still frowning Koko) had wide eyes at her display. The air in her lungs was gently released, and she looked away in embarrassment.

"See? There's no way this 'black steel' could've guessed that. This is something that we need to deal with asap" she said grimly.

"So whatever this group's demands are, we have to accept them, is that where you're going with this?" Lehm asked pointedly. Koko's sigh was the answer he didn't like.

"Just a reminder boss, you and I are on the FBI's blacklist" Wiley reminded.

"I know. Honestly, that'll be the easiest part to deal with. Alright, once Valmet is mobile, we're going to america. Tojo, where was this place again?" she turned to ask.

"This medium sized town called Woodcrest. Its a few miles from the pennsylvania border" he dutifully reported.

"This guy was good enough to hack my private email, so I think he intentionally left his location open, right?" she asked, which he nodded to.

"To minimize the risk, we shouldn't stay there more than a few days. Once some law enforcement agency finds us we're in hot water" R advised. Lutz gently elbowed Wiley.

"Going home but can't stay. Thats gotta suck" he jabbed friendlily. Wiley waved it off.

"Only real family I got is my folks, and thats something I can live with. Besides, I'm from Virginia anyway" he shrugged off. Lehm chuckled.

"Lucky you. My folks held my funeral the day I left for basic" he joked. Five pairs of shocked eyes swung to him, making him laugh.

"Every time it's a different story" Mao shook his head.

"Focus people" Koko reminded, ending the good cheer "now, Rock, I know this is hard for you, but I need for you to tell us as much as you can about this girl. It is a girl right?" she asked. Black Rock Shooter nodded, pushing herself off of the wall to come closer. She fished the phone from her pocket, but Tojo carefully came closer to her bearing his laptop.

"Here, I downloaded a word program just for this" he said. She looked at the computer for a second before pocketing her phone. Her hands went for the keyboard to type, staring slow but growing into a clacking serenade. Lutz and Mao leaned over her shoulder to see what she was writing. Behind them, Jonah discretely did the same.

"Lets see... _she is like me. She wears a black dress and has horns and claws_. Simple enough" Lutz read. Valmet frowned.

"When you say 'like you', does that mean similar abilities? Fast, strong, weapons out of thin air, et cetera?" she asked. More clicks.

" _Yes. I am faster but she is stronger. We are about matched on toughness_ " Mao read.

"Okay, now what about weapons?" Lehm questioned. She clicked a few more keys.

" _Chains skulls and_..." Lutz read, giving her a curious look when her hands halted. Seeing the wrinkled brow, Tojo retracted the laptop to do something to it. When he returned it to her the word program was gone, replaced by rows upon rows of pictures.

"I did an image search for hand weapons. Just pick the one that looks most like it" he said helpfully. She nodded, putting a finger to the scroller icon. It took a little more than two minutes for her to nod, with a hard expression of her own. Turning the screen around once more Tojo raised his eyebrow.

"Thats...a scythe" he reported, absentmindedly changing programs.

"Alright. Chains, a scythe, and you said skulls?" Lehm asked her for confirmation. Black Rock Shooter nodded, going back to the computer in front of her?

"How exactly is a skull a weapon?" Ugo asked in confusion. More clicks.

" _They are big and tough. They can fly_ " Mao read.

"Define big" Wiley spoke. She held her arms up, flattening her palms out and holding them apart. The glasses wearing man estimated the distance as roughly a meter.

"...Well. Beachball sized flying skulls" he shook his head. Her hands hesitated for a moment before typing out one more thing.

" _She also has a sword_. What kind of sword? Like yours?" Lutz asked her. The way she looked away before nodding did not go unnoticed.

"Recap: she has similar abilities as you, is armed with chains, big flying skulls, a scythe, a sword, and wears a black dress with horns. That about right?" Koko questioned. The statement was met with a downcast nod. Seeing this, she made up her mind.

"Jonah, why don't you take her to that shop down the road and get her a treat? I think she needs it" she gently commanded.

"On it" he said dutifully. At once he went to the door, stopping long enough to wave for Black Shooter to follow him. She quietly sighed and trudged after him out the door. Koko waited until they were both out of earshot before she motioned for them to continue.

"Did anyone else get a bad vibe from that?" R asked them.

"Yeah. There's some personal history here" Mao agreed.

"You too? Whatever it is though, I think we should leave it be" Valmet said. Koko nodded.

"Unless it comprises the mission, thats what we'll do. Anyway" she swept her gaze around "the important right now is that the biggest item on the unknown list is down. Now Lutz, you told me before you had a contingency plan to kill her. Do you think it'll work against this Dead Master?" she asked pointedly.

"Mostly sure, yeah. Several high rate of fire weapons in overlapping fields. Maybe a few tear gas grenades to slow her down first. Nothing we don't already have" he answered.

"Can you incapacitate her with this?" she pressed.

"Maybe, either with fewer weapons or using more gas. It'll boil down to the situation" he said carefully.

"Thats our game plan then. We'll assume this is a high risk operation. As far as we know, black steel holds all the cards. Wiley, how soon can we be there?" Koko asked him.

"From here? Twelve hour flight, maybe another twelve for rest and recon" he answered.

"Hey boss, what about that missile deal?" R brought up.

"Day after tomorrow. That'll take a day...so, four days?" she proposed.

"Better make it five. I'll be close to a hundred percent by then" Valmet advised. Koko nodded.

"Then thats our timetable. Get your gear ready. Tojo, tell them five days and get a meeting spot" she commanded. The entire time he'd been typing away on her email.

"Its done" he said, tapping the send key.

xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxXXXXXXXXxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx

 _Five minutes later..._

Huey's phone began to ring. Halfway through the second of the generic beeping noises, he snatched it from the coffee table it was resting on to bring it to his ear, clicking the call button in the process.

"Its me" he said quickly. Three pairs of eyes, two brown, one green, abandoned what they were doing to focus on him.

"Your lady associate just sent a reply" said Quiet Storm from the other end.

"What'd it say?" he said quickly, ignoring his brother's urges to tell him what was going on.

"Its a yes" to that Huey sighed in relief "they'll be here in five days. She wants to know the meeting location" the prostitute/tech specialist reported. After a nerve wracking day of waiting that even a round at school failed to sooth, the confirmation was enough to excite him.

"Alright, tell her the MBS café at the corner of Beech and Seventh avenue in Woodcrest, at noon. Got that?" he pressed. Out of all the locations that he researched for the upcoming meeting, his decision of the unassuming shop would hopefully give him an edge. Considering what little he knew of the woman, he would need every advantage that he could get.

"Got it, sending it now" Quiet Storm reported.

xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxXXXXXXXXxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx

 _Two minutes later..._

"Got a response" Tojo said excitedly. The few members of the team that began to filter away stopped in their tracks go listen.

"Coordinates?" Koko questioned. He paused for a second.

"None, its a location. Looking it up now, got it. Its a café" he reported disbelievingly, making several eyebrows rise.

"Really? They're either amateurs or pretending to be" Lehm shook his head.

"Lets assume the latter. I'd rather be prepared than careless" Koko dismissed.

"So yes?" the japanese man asked her.

"Of course. Once you're done find out everything about the area. Law enforcement, population density, sniper perches, the works" she ordered. Just before he clicked the send key R leaned back in from outside the door.

"I'm doing a coffee run, who wants what?" he asked.

xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxXXXXXXXXxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx

"Its a yes" Quiet Storm told him. The youth took a deep breath.

"Thanks for your help" he said gratefully.

"As long as you got the coin, anytime. Besides, I haven't had a challenge like this in a while, so thank you" the prostitute told him. The line went dead, and he lowered the phone.

"So, whats the word?" Robert asked directly.

"In five days an arms dealer is coming to town. She's experienced and has a ton of guns. She also knows more about her kind" he pointed at Dead Master "than I do. With luck, we can have a civil conversation. In the meantime, we need to prepare in case it doesn't happen" he explained. The horned girl frowned.

"You expect me to get along with them?" she asked coldly.

"No, I expect you to behave yourself so the air to lead ratio doesn't become lethal. Grandad, if you want out of this, nows the time" Huey told him. The old man blanched.

"Well, I, uh, want to be, um, supportive..." his grandfather stuttered nervously, causing Riley to snicker and Dead Master to roll her eyes.

"Grandad, its alright. If you could do me a favor though, see if you can't get the Dubois's out of town too, okay?" Huey asked him. At that his glasses covered eyes lit up, and he nodded excitedly.

"Yeah! Yeah, can do. You can count on me" he said quickly, failing to conceal his relief. Huey kept his gaze neutral as he turned to his brother.

"And you?" he posed. Riley smirked.

"Goin to have a showdown with a gun dealer? I'm in" he proclaimed. Huey shook his head.

"There won't be a showdown if everything goes as planned. Still, the more help I got the better the odds. If you can, try getting ahold of Ed and Gin. They're two trigger happy morons, but if things go south they'll be good to have" he suggested.

"On it n****. Say, you think this bitch'll sell me a piece?" Riley asked mischievously. He ignored him.

"Thats makes five. This Hekmatyr woman has at least eight other bodyguards" Dead Master brought up.

"Fortunately, I know two people that can help" he countered, reaching for his phone.

"Who?" his grandfather asked.

"I'll tell you when I know for sure" he dismissed, making a call. Robert shook his head, wondering if his grandson was getting in over his head. In doing so, he noticed that Riley had a rare contemplative expression on.

"And what're you thinking about?" he questioned.

"Just wonderin. Whaddya think this Black Shooter girl doin right now?" he asked, disregarding Dead Master's hard frown.

"With luck, they keep her locked in a cage" she snapped.

xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxXXXXXXXXxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx

Black Rock Shooter stared in wonder at the shelf. The simple corner mart was nothing special, the same type of thing she'd seen from London to Cape Town. Yet before her was something that she couldn't have come up with in her wildest dreams. Just as she thought she was becoming used to humans, they threw a brand new surprise her way. For a short time she wondered if she would ever stop being astonished. She reached out to pluck the plastic package off of the shelf.

Jonah stopped his searching for a good brand of tea when she did, not surprised at what she had clutched in her hands.

"You sure you want that?" he asked. The caramel apple bobbed a little as she nodded.

"Alright" he said, holding his hand out. She visibly hesitated before giving it too him. He was willing to bet she was already salivating over it.

Four minutes, a compromise on brands, and twenty american dollars later the two strolled out the door. Inwardly Jonah was glad the cashier was male; women's reactions to his appearance got old quickly. Outside he turned on his heels to begin the hike back. When Koko said 'down the road', it translated to two miles. For a car, it was no issue. On foot, it was. An hour had passed already, and it was going to be roughly forty five minutes before they returned. He had the suspicion it was intentional.

Jonah didn't need to look to know that Black Rock Shooter was flanking him and boring holes into his spoils, much less check to see if she was following him. Bringing the generic plastic bag up, he ruffled around inside for a few seconds before grabbing ahold of what she wanted. Without looking he held the treat out. She snatched it out of his hand and began to immediately tear it open.

"I have a question" he said. Her movements stopped.

"In the desert motel, after you punched me, you said you knew about love and heartbreak" he began. He had a feeling of what would happen when he brought the subject up, so he was prepared when she stopped in place. His boots ended their forward march, the feet within doing their part to rotate the boy so he was facing her.

"Every mention of this girl makes you uncomfortable. I think I know why" he stated. Her valued treat was held by her waist, forgotten. Her free hand already had her phone out. A part of him noted that she was now able to type one handed.

 _She is someone i have fought before. She is an enemy_ , it read. Her hard expression told him a different story.

"You wouldn't look away every time it gets brought up if she were just an old foe" he seamlessly countered. Even through her gloves he could see her knuckles tightening.

"I don't care who she is or what happened between you two. All I want to know is when the time comes, what are you going to do?" Jonah questioned. A flash of something over her face indicated that he had hit close to the mark. Her expression morphed into a scowl, and her fingers pressed down on the phone with more force than what was needed.

 _I will do as i am told. No more no less_ , she wrote to him. He nodded.

"All I needed to know" Jonah said blandly. He reached back into the bag and withdrew a bottle of clear liquid to present to her. She didn't grab it at once, since she was irritated with him. Only when he waved it did she take it, looking away in annoyance. Scanning over the bottle she became aware that she didn't recognize what it was.

"Thats flavored water. I figured you would like it" he answered her unspoken question. He turned to walk away, and after hastily reorganizing her stuff she trotted after him. Once she had a good grip on her caramel apple she unscrewed the top, feeling a hiss of carbonation. Giving it a second to settle, she raised the top to sip. Her eyes went wide as the sweet peach flavored liquid coursed over her tongue.

He figured right.

xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxXXXXXXXXxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx

 _The next day..._

Huey stood in front of the thick mahogany door. Just beyond was both the one man he hated the most and the one man he needed the most. He had agonized over his decision for a day now, but even with hard logic to console him he was hesitating. No matter how much he thought it over, on the other side of the door was someone that he needed if his plan was going to work. There was no alternative, no matter how desperately he wished for one. He took a deep breath.

"Okay, I'm ready" he said quietly. The waiting butler, the same one that had tended to them for the robbery, nodded. His immaculately white clove reached over to the doorknob to open it. Just before it swung, he whispered "good luck."

Inside was more or less what Huey expected the personal office of the most powerful man in the state, possibly the country, to look like. Soft colors toned the room. On one wall was a sizable shelf of leather bound rare books, for decoration. On the other were pictures, many of the man himself shaking hands with other powerful or wealthy people. Near the far wall was a large acacia desk, the thick old man behind smiling dangerously. The room was impressive and ostentatious. For anyone else, it would be almost tacky.

"Huey my boy! C'mon in" invited Ed Wuncler the First. Steadying his nerves, Huey entered, the door behind him quietly swinging shut. Every step closer to the desk was one he wanted to take in the opposite direction.

"So, you wanted to borrow some of my time for this meeting. Something to the tune of 'needing my help,' is that right?" warmly asked the plutocrat, the gloating underneath all but obvious.

"Thats right" Huey answered through gritted teeth.

"Luckily for you, I'm feeling quite indulgent. What do you need?" he asked with a smirk. The youth took a breath.

"In four days a very dangerous person, practically a terrorist, is coming to this town. In their entourage is a being similar to the one currently at my home. What I want to do is to talk in order to find out everything they know, but I also want to be prepared just in case" he outlined. Wuncler's hands came up to rest his chin.

"Go on" he said.

"I know you have the local and probably state police in your pocket. I've already picked out a meeting location, so I need for them to give the group a clear path from the airport to here. If possible, I want a SWAT unit on standby. An FBI team too if you can manage it" he explained. Wuncler chuckled.

"That all? I can have that settled in five minutes. Is there anything else?" he asked smirkingly.

"A few guns. Small, easily concealable. That's everything" he answered tightly. Wuncler leaned back in his thick chair, smirking mirthfully.

"Child's play. But all the same, you invited terrorists into my town without checking with me first. And another alien too" he said. Huey wasn't surprised, though he did wonder how much the man knew.

"A necessity. If I have to I can get by without your help" he said dismissively. Wuncler's smile grew.

"That is a bull faced lie and you know it. But as I said, I'm feeling indulgent. So here's the deal" Huey stiffened, fearing the worst "I'll tell the cops what to do and give you some guns. In exchange, I want you to read this out loud" he reached under his desk to hand over a sheet of paper. Huey slowly grabbed it, suspicious of what it could be. When he scanned over the document his heart skipped.

"You're not serious" he said flatly.

"I'm a hundred percent serious" Wuncler replied.

"How long have you had this?" Huey asked suddenly.

"Quit stalling and read the damn thing. Try to put some sincerity into it" he commanded. The youth exhaled.

"I, Huey Freeman, humbly ask the generous Mister Wuncler the First for his assistance. I acknowledge that I cannot solve this problem on my own and-godamnit" Huey stopped in disgust. He sent an angry glare at the old man, who merely smiled.

"Go on" he gloated.

"This is fuckin ridiculous" Huey angrily snapped.

"You know, inviting a terrorist to a peaceful town is against the law. Not just regular laws, the federal level. It's, dare I say, treason" Wuncler wistfully suggested. The youth scowled.

"You have a lot to lose too" he shot back.

"Do I? Because it looks like I did the public a good deed by getting a domestic terrorist arrested before he could get foreign help. Who knows what kind of nefarious scheme he could've enacted?" the plutocrat gloated.

At that moment Huey realized he had been outmaneuvered; it was by no accident that the man in front of him had as much power as he did. His best option, his only option, was to do what he wanted.

"So?" Huey gritted his teeth.

"Fine" he answered through clenched teeth. The paper was wrinkled from where he grabbed it, but to his regret enough was still legible.

"Start over. And try some enthusiasm" Wuncler sakd.

"I, Huey Freeman, humbly ask the generous Mister Wuncler the First for his assistance. I acknowledge that I cannot solve this problem on my own, and only through his beneficence and generosity can I succeed" Huey felt bile at the back of his throat. The words alone stung at his pride and dignity, and who the speech was for made it infinitely worse.

"*click* I, Huey Freeman, humbly ask the generous Mister Wuncler *click*" The afro'd youth snapped his head up incredulously, his eyes now tracking the small tape recorder in Wuncler's hand.

"A little something to help me sleep at night. And don't worry, this goes nowhere" he gloated. Never before did Huey want to commit first degree murder more than that moment. He was certain that if he had a weapon on him he would be lunging at the man, never mind the cost.

"As for your request, consider it done. Send me an email later about the details" Wuncler finished. Huey gulped down the lump of raw anger.

"Thank you" he said, coming out in a strained hiss. He smirked and steepled his fingers.

"Anytime. Out of curiosity though, what is the name of this 'practical terrorist?'" he asked. Huey needed a second to breathe, before he screamed in frustration.

"An arms dealer named Koko Hekmatyr" he said lowly. The old man's smile dropped.

"Koko Hekmatyr? Of H&C Logistics Incorporated?" he asked suddenly, making the youth blink.

"Y-yeah, how do you..." he trailed off. He had a reasonable guess of the answer.

"I own a large amount of stock for that corporation. Figures you had to go tangle with one of their people" he grumbled.

"So you've met her" Huey said hopefully, which was dashed by Wuncler shaking his head.

"Met her brother Kaspar once. Pale fucker, gave me the creeps. But enough about that. Whatever you do, don't try to get in a gunfight with those people. I have enough trouble cleaning up after my jackass grandson" he warned.

At some unseen signal the mahogany door swung open. To Huey, it was his cue to leave. Out the door bitterness began swell within him at last. The only thing that tempered it was the secure knowledge that he now had what he needed. Errantly he wondered how the Hekmatyr woman was preparing for the encounter.

xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxXXXXXXXXxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx

 _The next day..._

"Just sign here and we'll be all set" Koko said friendlily, holding the clipboard out for the client to sign. The warm sun beat down on the pair, while a large ship lazily plowed through the sparkling Mediterranean sea in the distance.

"I'm aware that I've said this repeatedly, but I can't thank you enough miss Hekmatyr" the client, a thick intermediary, said gratefully. She politely waved it off.

"The pleasure's all mine mister Wyzekli" she gently accepted.

Two more minutes of small talk passed in order to make sure the money went through, making Koko give a satisfied grin. She made a short call to the HCLI owned cargo ship, relaying news to the client. In twenty minutes it would dock to begin unloading its cargo: japanese manufactured derivatives of an american SAM missile design, three hundred of them. It would be a chore to do that, one she was all too happy of avoiding.

With her part in the deal concluded, she gave one last handshake to the client and turned away to return to her awaiting car, Mao and Lutz falling in behind her. Like a gentleman the chinese man opened the door for her, closing it once she was inside. Ugo gave her an expectant look at her while he waited for the men to get in themselves. She waited until they were all in to give a fist pump.

"Score!" she cried out triumphantly.

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 _The next day..._

Waiting patiently by the entrance to the park, Huey double checked his watch. According to the phone call, he was supposed to meet the man at that exact location by two o'clock p.m. on the dot, alone. It was past the time by four minutes, yet there was no sign of him. Sighing, he glanced back to the park, idly remembering the last time he was at this spot. He shuddered a little as he recalled how that went.

His watch ticked past the five minute mark. Just as Huey decided to leave, a black sedan pulled up to the curb. Tracking it, he watched with interest as it's driver killed the engine. The car was a shiny black that had tinted windows, with no identifying marks or emblems to give any clue to its owner. Huey relaxed somewhat, though he internally reflected that he normally would've been at best suspicious of it. The drivers side door opened, its occupant stepping out.

"Good afternoon mister Flowers" Huey greeted neutrally. The white man had red hair to go with his own neutral frown. His outfit was different from the last time he saw the man; it was a generic government issue black suit, complete with a blue tie. Nondescript, at a glance.

"Huey Freeman, long time no see" greeted Jack Flowers, terrorist hunter extraordinaire.

"I hope you had no problems with your superiors over this" he said. He shook his head.

"NSA are a lot looser with their operations than my old agency. Taking a few days off from an active investigation though, that I need a good reason for. Mind telling me why you called me back out here?" the agent asked. In response Huey yanked a crumpled sheet of paper out from his pocket to hand over. Wordlessly Jack took it, scanning over it with all his years of professional investigative experience at work. Seconds later he had to read over it again, surprise cracking through his hard won exterior.

"Arms dealer. This the real deal?" he asked quietly. Huey nodded sagely.

"How many others know about this?" he suddenly demanded.

"A dozen others. Only a few of them know about the finer details though" he answered. Jack lowered the paper.

"Anything else I should know?" he questioned sternly. His crotch kicking days may have been behind him, but his record of excessive force remained unchanged.

"Apart from the aliens? Nothing else" he answered drily. Jack blinked, then grinned.

"Alright, you got me hooked. What do you got for organization?" he questioned at once.

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 _The next day..._

"Now, do you want the good news, the bad news, or the worse news?" Schokolade said over the phone. Koko sighed.

"Start at worst I guess" she said resignedly. Apart from Jonah and the girl, she was alone in the hotel room. The others were out running errands, either preparing for the mission or catching up on rest. The two she was with were doing both; Jonah was methodically tending to his Browning (thinking of replacing her team's weapons in the next two weeks made her wonder how well he was going to adapt) and Black Rock Shooter was curled up inside of a thick mound of blankets in the corner, sound asleep the last time she checked.

"Okay, the investigation into those hitmen in Alexandria went cold. They pulled the detectives off the case. The lone witness is still a no go" the american reported sadly.

"That stings. But i suppose I shouldn't be surprised. Anyway, the bad?" Koko changed the subject.

"Your meeting? There's a dozen different groups that could've set it up in the town alone. A local power magnate, organized crime, a domestic terrorist, competing intelligence agents, and so on. The one who hacked your email in the first place though was a former IT student turned prostitute" she said, making Koko pick up.

"Oh. That's unexpected" she said after a moment, mindful of the children in her presence. Internally she laughed; the boy had a double digit body count, and who knew how many she killed?

"Yeah. I'm so glad that I'm keeping Scarecrow out of this. Imagine how he'd react to this" she suggested. Koko giggled, which Jonah gave her an odd look for.

"I'm picturing it now. Anyway, whats the good?" she asked.

"You're gonna like this. I've been on the lookout for odd incidents, you know, like what you've been going through. Found several incidents in the same town that you're going to. A double homicide, a few inquires from residents, and a bank robbery. I emailed you what I found so far" Schokolade told her. Sure enough, when Koko opened her computer she found a new file in her inbox.

"Thanks. I owe you for this" she said gratefully. Letting her eyes wander, she caught Black Rock Shooter's arm crawl out from under the mass of blankets to creep towards a candy bar.

"Speaking of which, any luck with what I asked for?" the american asked hopefully.

"No dice so far. Gotta get the right time for it otherwise it won't work" Koko answered enigmatically. Again she planned getting Black Rock Shooter into a bikini to pose.

xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxXXXXXXXXxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx

 _That evening..._

"Alright" Huey began, looking around the gathered circle around the backroom table that was his best hope of getting through the next day.

He didn't like what he saw: two hoodlums with more money than brains, an NSA agent that had a long history of brutality, a spineless police chief that was there solely to make sure his officers were in the know, Dead Master, his wannabe gangster brother, and himself. None of them had the skill to pull off what he had aimed to accomplish. His sole hope was that the Hekmatyr woman was just as curious about his knowledge as he was about hers.

"Thats the plan. Any questions?" he asked them. Jack Flowers was the first to speak, though not before sending a glare at Ed.

"Whats our contingency plan in case someone starts shooting?" he asked.

"Escape from the routes here. With Chief Berklin-" he started.

"Berdlin" the cop corrected.

"-Berdlin's help, he can either arrest them or force them to flee. Our mission here is paramount, but I don't want any one of you to get yourselves killed" he explained. Jack nodded, and Gin spoke up.

"How'll we know if you succeed? You're askin us to trust your operatin skills, when we don't know how good you really are" he pointed out.

"As long as there's a civil conversation going, that's your sign. Anything else?" he asked them. A black clawed hand rose from its owner's side.

"What happens when I see her?" Dead Master asked coldly.

"Behave unless things go wrong. If Hekmatyr is smart, and I have no reason to think she isn't, she won't play that card immediately. If she does anyway...just wait, okay?" Huey said instead.

He saw doubt across the group's features, making him worry. In truth he had little idea of what he was doing, he was just doing what he thought was the best choice under the circumstances. Unlike them however, he knew exactly what would happen if he screwed up. It was like walking through a minefield, all he could do was keep going and hope that his mistakes wouldn't cost any of the people in front of him their lives.

"Thats all? Good. Get some sleep, we have a long day ahead of us" Huey announced.

 _Lets pray it won't be our last_ , he thought, but kept to himself.

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 **A/N: decided whatever, spilt it one more time. For the fight you guys _really_ want to see, I won't bore you by mixing in any of this 'drama' garbage in. When it comes, It'll be all by itself, clearly marked for your convenience.**


	7. Chapter 7

_MBS Café, the next day..._

In the manager's office, Huey watched the hastily assembled camera network intently. Six cameras, three of them already present from the owners (paranoia paid dividends apparently), watched the inside, front door, the sidewalk, and the back entrance. He watched each one in turn, fearing the worst every time. A few nameless technicians from a security company that Wuncler owned operated the machines, but he kept an eye on them anyway. He didn't want to admit it, but he was worried that the old man would betray him.

Turning his attention to the inside of the café, he once again saw that his allies were still in the central room, where he asked them to stay to keep a lookout. Ed and Gin weren't happy about it, but once he explained its importance (with Flowers' grudging help) they took to their task. The plainclothes officers on loan from the police knew how the game went, so they posed no issue. Unsurprisingly Riley made his discontent vocal, even after Dead Master put him in his place.

"Where are they?" questioned the horned girl, who alternated between the camera setup and the tiny window in the café. Under his breath Huey sighed.

"Lord give me strength" he said tiredly, which one of the technicians nodded sympathetically to. His lack of sleep was beginning to catch up with him.

"Well?" she said expectantly.

"Its not the time yet. They'll be here soon" he assured her, taking a look at the digital clock on one of the computers: eleven thirty five.

 _Though I'm sure they're already out there_ , he thought.

 _Two hundred meters away..._

Lehm suppressed a yawn. Having stared through the optics of his favorite rifle for going on two consecutive hours doing nothing but watch pedestrians, he found himself experiencing the standard soul crushing boredom that every sharpshooter in history knew intimately. He didn't let it make his attention waver, no matter how much it threatened to. Still his thoughts did wander a little, mainly coming back to the sheer luck of finding a new high rise under construction a short jogging distance away. It offered a near picturesque view of the meeting location.

"You catch anything?" he asked softly to his spotter. Mao scanned through his telescope for another couple of seconds before answering.

"Nothing since those two guys" he answered in the same manner. Ninety minutes prior the men spotted two suspicious looking men in black gangster outfits power down the sidewalk and furtively duck inside. The two couldn't have looked more like low life thugs if they tried. Lehm had his phone out to deliver a short anonymous tip to the police if he saw them trying anything, but luckily nothing did.

"Shame. Ah well, if we're lucky this Black Steel will be a nice reasonable kind of guy, and we can all have a beer later" he said.

"You can, but I'm not. I dunno why but American beer upsets my stomach" Mao said, shaking his head a little, just enough to get his point across. Lehm snickered.

"C'mon, you know you want to" he ribbed.

A block away from the intrepid snipers, the air was anything but relaxed.

"Its time, ready?" Valmet asked the four men. Wiley, Lutz, Tojo, and R gave the affirmative.

From the second of the rented cars they exited, leaving as one but scattering immediately. The group made sure to keep their respective arrivals to the café apart, though while planning the operation out it was assumed that Black Steel knew who they were. As insurance, each carried a bag of some kind (Valmet was not pleased to get the girlish looking purse) with a submachine gun inside. MP5Ks, each one had two spare magazines. After Dubai, none of them felt like taking chances.

Inside the first rented car Koko saw them disperse into the placid mass of humanity. Ugo, Black Rock Shooter, and Jonah were with her. The plan was for the first group to slowly filter in, taking up positions inside to counter whatever Black Steel had for muscle. At a minute before the designated time, she would enter herself. The thought of crossing the street, alone and unprotected, chilled her to the core. Even knowing that all of her men were close by failed to console her. Nevertheless she put on a brave front.

"Alright, phase one is in motion" she announced. The three grabbed headsets and quickly affixed them. The previous group had, in addition to weapons, small short ranged radios that she had to painstakingly comb through her inventory for. They were tiny (slightly larger than an average cellphone), using high frequency waves to communicate. The downside was their pathetic five hundred meter range, which kept them from being sold more.

Her knowledge of the enemy bordered on nonexistent, but she was certain that they wouldn't be expecting the backup she had planned.

 _MBS Café, five minutes later..._

"There's one of them now" Huey announced. Tiny earplug radios kept the entire group networked to him, allowing him to pass on instructions if needed. He was certain that the frequency they were using was tappable, but the devices were too useful to abandon.

Seconds after he spoke the glass door chimed, and the first of the woman's mercenaries stepped through. It was the female of the bunch, a former Finnish army major. He could still hear the raunchy calls Ed, Gin, and Riley made when he discovered her picture. Her appearance was similar to the few photos he had of her, but he saw that her hair was much shorter. She wore khakis with a black tee shirt and loafers, carrying a large burgundy purse under one arm. He was willing to bet his bottom dollar there was a gun inside.

She strolled up to the cashier (actually an undercover cop, all the actual staff were sent away for their own safety) and began to genially order a strawberry shake. In a few minutes the drink was up, and the foreign woman paid for her order. He kept his attention on her long enough to confirm she was taking a seat inside. Beyond that he ignored her, switching back to the outside for any sign of the others. A large part of his plan was riding on the assumption that Hekmatyr wouldn't bring all of her bodyguards in at once, leaving a few behind as calvary.

Dead Master's claws begun to drum on the chair she occupied, a constant staccato of taps that wore at his already frayed nerves.

The next to enter was a glasses clad japanese man in a polo short and jeans, with a knapsack slung over his shoulder. Huey recognized him; the day before he came in minutes before closing to hurriedly order a coffee. At the time he had a intelligible asian accent to his english, giving the real cashier grief. To the undercover cop he gave a slightly improved version of the performance the day before, again ordering a plain black coffee and a donut. He too took a seat in the opposite side of the lobby, giving no sign of recognizing the woman.

Two more entered; a spiky blonde man in a polo shirt that held the door open for a glasses wearing large black man to follow him in. They acted as if it was a coincidence, saying nothing more than a cursory thanks between them. It was well done, like the two men didn't know each other at all. Huey half suspected that was the actual case with them; with Hekmatyr's job she would likely go through bodyguards rapidly. The first ordered an iced mocha and a donut, then the second got a fruit shake. Like the two before them, they both had large bags with them, and they both took a booth.

One more followed a minute later, a haggard looking gentlemen dressed similarly to the others. In his hands was a black suitcase. He promptly went to the counter and ordered a large coffee, black expresso. He tossed some money at the cashier before snagging his drink to head to a booth, saying nothing more than a handful of words to the man. The cop glanced at the extra change and shrugged, putting them in the cash register anyway.

"Are you going out now?" Dead Master said sardonically. Huey glanced at the clock: eleven fifty one.

"Almost. Remember-" he started.

"Go out when you give the signal or something happens, I know" she spat, causing the two technicians to cringe.

"I know you know. But you're the weakest link in this chain, we can't afford a screw up" he snapped. Ignoring her scowl, he turned back to the monitors.

 _A block away..._

Koko glanced at her watch.

"Lets go" she ordered simply.

Wordlessly Ugo started the car. The spot they were in was chosen because it was a straight shot the entire way to the rendezvous. She was concerned for a few minutes that they would be late because of the traffic (especially knowing how some americans liked to drive), but it ended up being a non issue. Only one real problem reared its head, an irate fool who tried and failed to cut the beefy man off. Other than that incident, they obeyed every traffic law in the area. He was taking no chances with local law enforcement, and neither was she.

The MBS café was, as a stroke of poor luck, on the opposite side of the street as where they were going, leaving her with a hundred foot walk in front of her. Ugo took a marked spot by the curb and killed the engine.

"Last chance Koko" he said to his side. The lady was in the passenger seat, while the children were in the back (keeping the M249, first aid kits, tear gas, and a quantity of ammunition back there company as well). She shook her head.

"I'll manage. I'm just crossing the street is all" she said with a weak grin. Ugo smiled as well, pushing his well worn protector urges aside for a moment. Inside he vowed to come running in a heartbeat of there was a sign of trouble.

"Okay. You kids behave" she jested to the back. Jonah gave a thumbs up, while Black Rock Shooter mutedly nodded. She kept her face from being plastered against the tinted window, but that was the limit of her restraint. One hint of Dead Master and she would be out. That was the reason behind leaving Jonah in the car instead of taking him in with her, to keep her from jumping out prematurely.

Giving it one last sigh, Koko pushed the door open and left. The warm Maryland sun beating down on her was trivial in comparison to the burning North African or Middle Eastern skies. In her white business outfit, she was hardly phased. A few other people on the sidewalk were not showing as much resistance as her, making her internally chuckle. It helped keep her mind off of the self induced danger.

Sucking in a breath once more, she walked down the sidewalk. A couple of people have her strange looks, but the majority didn't give her a second glance. She stopped in her tracks at the crosswalk, proverbially twiddling her thumbs waiting. Internally she was fighting to keep herself from bolting back to the car and calling the entire operation off. When the walk light clicked on, she found herself feeling uncharacteristically timid. A feeling she brushed aside.

Koko didn't get where she was by being timid.

Her struggle never escaped to the surface. She powered across the walkway with a dozen ignorant pedestrians, neither slow nor hurried. A few looks some of the people gave her brought on a vicious smirk that caused them to shrink back. As far as she was concerned, there was a date with destiny inside the upcoming café. They were fools for even contemplating trying to stop her. Once her feet touched sidewalk, she unknowingly came into view of the cameras.

In the backroom Huey's breath caught in his throat.

"She's here" he choked. He hurriedly relayed the news to the group, inadvertently making them all tense up. He half ran to the door to grab his gifted radio and weapon, aware that Dead Master left her chair to join him.

The door chimed its cheerful tune. Passing through the barrier was a confident arms dealer, here to deal with the one who dared summon her. Koko scanned over the room for a moment, spotting much. Six faces in particular seemed suspicious, continuously peeking her way. A pair of thugs, a man in a suit (her instincts told her he was an intelligence agent), a kid with a laptop, and a silent couple. Five familiar faces were among the customers, none of them so much as flickering their eyes at her.

She paused for all of three seconds. The cashier's hard gaze tracked her unnervingly as she casually strolled up to the counter, wearing her best smile. Koko purposely took her time ordering, mainly to get a feeling for the environment. Who among the current occupants seemed to know what they were doing, and who was just going with the flow. Entrances, exits. How did they communicate, and how well organized were they. Anything that she could exploit.

That, and which type of coffee she wanted. She was spilt between a standard black coffee with sugar and cream or a caramel frappe. Idly she considered getting one for the sugar loving Black Rock Shooter, but dismissing the idea the moment the question of how her biology would react to caffeine popped up. Deciding to be adventurous she went for the latter. A brief exchange took place once she made her choice, a few bills for the cold drink.

"Thank you" she said cheerfully as she accepted the plastic cup, wincing internally at the price.

After that, all that remained was picking a good seat by the street window, to make Lehm's job easier. Just before Koko sat down, she felt a buzzing from her pocket. Pausing in step, she unwittingly held her breath while she retracted her phone. Relief flooded into her when she saw who the email was from. Now much more at peace, the pale woman slid into the hard plastic bench easily, her sharp blue eyes fixated on reading the message.

 _Hi Koko whatru doin_ , went the simplistic email. She smiled, typing out a response.

 _In the middle of something actually, you?_ she typed to Dr. Miami.

 _Busines or sumthin?_ the oddball woman asked.

 _Or something. I'll be swinging by in a week or two if all goes well_ , Koko typed.

 _Awesum! I fond sumthin really kewl cant wait to sho u_ , her excited and horribly misspelled email went.

 _What is it?_ Koko asked.

 _Its a secret. Come here in persin and ill tell_. Koko raised an eyebrow, wondering what it could be.

 _Probably new butterflies_ , she thought. While the goofy japanese woman was her friend, she could be almost childish at times. It didn't stop her from mentally clearing her schedule next week.

 _Will do. Gotta go take care_ , she typed as a farewell.

Once the digital conversation was mostly through, Koko heard the sound of a door swinging open. She took note of it, yet kept to finishing her conversation with Miami for the time being. Over the quiet din of the background noise, she heard footsteps coming her way. Outwardly she gave no sign of being aware of them, but she doubted they were fooled. Closing the messenger, she briefly opened the news app to see what was hot in the world.

 _Spokesman for the Chinese Government denounced Operation Shaman exercise on same day as USS George Washington leaves Yokohama to join Seventh Fleets staging area in South China Sea_ , read the first article. That had Koko's attention; US military movements were always a consideration, since they invariably caused her business to problems wherever they went. Every arms dealer in a region they traveled to was forced to either leave or lay low, lest they face capture and/or death.

She wanted to continue reading, but she felt someone pass by her uncomfortably close. Her phone lowered as the person took the bench opposite of her.

To her surprise it was a kid, no more than fifteen years old. He was an african-american, with a large afro hairstyle. His clothes consisted of a grey tee shirt with a dark coat over it (she thought of the weather outside and laughed internally). He had a rough handsomeness to him, though on the cuteness factor he was sorely lacking. What made her take notice was his expression: a hard frown that had no hint of amusement in it. It was like Jonah when she first met him.

"Miss Hekmatyr" he greeted blandly. Koko returned her phone to her pocket, aware that almost every eye in the café was on her.

"You seem to have me at a disadvantage mister...?" she left hanging, keeping a smile on. If he was intimidated by her he gave no sign of it.

"My name is not important. I am a spokesman for Black Steel" the youth began at once. The corners of her mouth twitched.

"Good start, but you need to learn some tact. Just announcing yourself off the bat like that? Professionals hate that sort of thing" she critiqued. Her ploy paid off; his expression ticked, lasting no more than a half second. In that pitiful span of time he told her far more about himself than he would after an hour of talking.

"I'm here on his behalf. Now, can we begin?" he sternly questioned.

"Let's. Where do you want to start mister Important?" Koko asked back, teasing him once more. He fell for it, a flash of irritation crossing his features.

"The reason my superior called you here is because a certain someone in your possession. I think you know who I'm referring to" he alluded.

"First, she's employed as my bodyguard, no servitude is involved" she corrected.

"This Shooter being works for you?" the afro'd youth asked dryly, though she could see confusion underneath.

"We usually call her Rock, but yes. Full benefits, medical, hazard pay, et cetera. I could quote some figures if you want" she offered. He stiffened.

"No thanks. What I actually want to know is the details of how she came to work for you" he switched tracks. Koko's smile grew.

"Before I do that, I would like to see Delta Mike for myself" she countered. His brow wrinkled for a second before he understood.

At some unseen signal, a door opened once again. Koko wanted to twist her body around to see, but kept herself in place instead. What she could do was see the reactions of those still in her view. Shocked looks that were reigned in too late, with awed or guarded stares trailing an unseen individual. She could hear the muted taps of feet on the rough tiled floor however, quickly growing louder by the second. She stayed in place, but only just.

Koko needed most of her willpower to keep her composure in order when the girl finally entered her sight.

Black Rock Shooter's bland description failed to do the being justice. The dress itself reminded her of gothic lolita fashion for starters. Her back was exposed, showing two stunted wings that bobbed with her movement. Turning around to seat herself by the afro'd boy, she could see not only her pretty dress, but the short horns atop her head. One of the girl's 'hands' went to the table to steady herself, showing a black metal gauntlet that was hardly like what she imagined it to be. The girl made herself as comfortable as can be before she looked up, showing her startlingly green eyes to the woman.

"Hekmatyr I presume" she said in a meticulous tone. Koko blinked in surprise.

"What's wrong?" the boy questioned.

"You can talk" Koko said flatly. Dead Master's gaze narrowed.

"Of course I can talk. Did you think I couldn't?" she said dangerously. Koko thought she was rather pretty by her reckoning, though that failed to mitigate the deep unease that she felt.

"Well...yeah, pretty much. This definitely makes my original plan much easier" Koko admitted, sending alarm bells ringing in the boy.

"Fascinating, now I'm told that you're the one that Black Rock Shooter" Koko noted the inflection on the name "is with at this point. Is this correct?" Dead Master asked, in a tone that hinted that a 'no' wasn't going to be acceptable.

"That's correct. By her reactions concerning you and that question, I've come to the conclusion that you two have some personal history. She hasn't told me a thing about it, and I was hoping you could fill me in on the details" Koko started. The bizarre girl's lips began to curl into a snarl, but was halted by the boy rapping his knuckles on the table.

"That's something we can talk about out later. For now, Black Steel wants to know about the details of how this Rock came to this world" he interrupted.

"How she came to this world? Jeez, you make her sound like an alien or something" she half joked. Upon seeing his hard gaze she wondered if that was what he thought.

"Terminology doesn't matter. Black Steel is interested in the event, not the names" he said.

"How about we compare our and your" she gestured to the horned girl "stories to see the similarities?" Koko suggested, to which the boy's eyes narrowed.

"Unacceptable. If we do that you can modify your own story at will" he flatly pronounced.

"So could you" she pointed out. His lack of a response made her smile rise a centimeter.

"This is what we in the business call an impasse. We both have something the other wants, information in this case. Neither of us wants to share what we have. Consequently, this conversation has hit a dead end" Koko explained. The girl's fingers curled inwards, leaving gouges on the table surface. Similarly, the boy's hands clenched into fists.

"But" the two froze "this isn't a true impasse. Under different circumstances it certainly would be. In this scenario however, it can progress on in spite of the deadlock" the pale woman hinted. Curiosity shown in his eyes.

"How?" he asked, a simple question in truth. Koko's smile inched another centimeter up as she decided to test this boy's mettle once and for all.

Instead of answering aloud she reached her palm out to trace over the table, seeing him bristle but doing nothing to stop her. Her outstretched fingers stopped roughly in the middle, stopping at some unknown cue. She glanced first out the window, then at the floor space beside the booth. A minute was spent in this fashion, adjusting her hand. It was like she was checking something. Finally she nodded, her hand a few inches from its initial position. Bringing it up, she tapped twice in the spot she chosen before retracting her hand. The youth noticed her smile had shifted into a smirk.

Eight seconds later the glass beside them plinked, a coin sized hole punching through. Seemingly at the same time the plastic and hardwood table popped, flecks of debris scattering everywhere to mask a similar hole appearing in the table. Around it was a jagged mess, at an evident slant. The boy spasmed a few seconds later, all the obvious signs of hard panic affecting his system too late to do anything about it. His eyes went wide, and his mouth dropped in utter shock.

Dead Master in comparison widened her eyes and clenched the table hard enough to leave imprints. Koko thought she had either hard nerves or a delayed reaction, but from her limited information it was probably the former. Idly she wondered it the girl comprehended what it was that had missed her, and what would happen if if the marksman decided against the blatant display to go right for the root of the problem. Giving the matter some thought, she came to a hesitant negative. In the end it didn't matter, she would get a lesson soon enough.

"What the fuck!" a patron shouted. Koko turned her head around to see which one it was.

It was one of the thugs she spotted when she walked in. He had jumped to his feet, yanking a gun from the belt of his pants. The glasses wearing man across from him followed suit a few seconds later, showing far more skill than he did. At the same time Lutz and Wiley quickly drew their own weapons to aim at them. Compared to the submachine guns, the two pistols looked tiny, and from their expressions they knew it.

From there on it went, like falling dominos she reflected. The younger African American boy tried to pull out a short shotgun, but Valmet was on him at once, pinning him to the floor with an strangled obscenity. The cold couple were quicker, but with her swinging her weapon around and R Taking aim himself that was rendered moot. The man in the suit was quicker on the draw, just a hairs breath faster than Tojo. Both had their guns pointed at each other, but neither had an advantage. The cashier grabbing a shotgun of his own complicated matters, but all it took was some repositioning to have Lutz put the man in his sights.

A tense stalemate took form. A few quick checks from both sides confirmed the unenviable truth: no one could risk shooting, or they would all die. The boy across from Koko frantically shoved the inhuman girl out of the way, knocking her out of the seat. He staggered onto his feet, sweeping over the room. He was gaping in utter shock, his arms twitching. From her position she could see the imprint of the small handgun on his back. She noisily sighed, to catch his attention.

"I'm going to guess this wasn't in the cards, wasn't it?" she asked dryly.

A number of things were racing through Huey's mind, but the thing that stood out in plain relief was the totally casual way she was treating the situation.

Koko unhurriedly slid to her own feet, but not before taking a drawn out sip from her condensation coated drink. Once up, she surveyed the room with a look of detached boredom and shook her head. Her hand reached out with her palm flattened out, like she was accepting something from him. A flash of understanding crossed the boy's features, which a look of unconcealed horror followed.

"Its over. Hand over the weapon-" her statement ended when she noticed the dancing lights on the floor. Slowly the woman turned her head around, noting the large, ornately decorated black and silver scythe in the girl's hands, held away from her. She needed only two seconds to calculate that it's course would slash her, several times longer of the time that it would needed to actually do it. Her men looked on helplessly, unable to take their aim off of the targets.

"I demand only one thing from you" Dead Master said coldly.

Several hundred yards away Lehm and Mao cursed, the only difference between them was volume. The latter wanted to call the little lady to get her closer to the window, but he realized it could potentially upset the careful balance that was in there. The former worked the bolt to get a fresh round in the chamber, determined to make the next shot count. He debated for a moment and decided reluctantly to disable her if he got the chance. If he didn't, the girl's name would describe her perfectly.

Across the street Black Rock Shooter had her hands on the door latch and began to yank on it, making Ugo glad he thought to lock the door beforehand. Not that it would stop her for long; she knew how car locks worked, and if that failed then she would blast her way out the window. She snarled, going for the lock first. A hand grabbing her shoulder was nearly met by her elbow, the other hand latching on her shoulder was.

"Stop it!" Jonah shouted, desperately trying to keep her in the car. She flashed a snarl at him before going back to the door.

"If you go out there now, they're all going to die!" he snapped. Her movement froze, save for her still grimacing head which swiveled to him.

"They have their guns pointed at each other. Barge in there now and everyone is gonna start shooting" he tightly explained. Her eyes narrowed.

"Trust me. Just wait" he urged. Her expression didn't change, but her grip on the door loosened. Ugo leaned around the seat apprehensively.

"Jonah, hand me the machine gun. When we get the signal, we're getting Koko out of there" he told them. Curtly they nodded.

Inside, the girl's scythe twitched with every movement Koko made.

"And that would be?" she asked neutrally. Her smile was gone, yet she remained calm.

"The location of Black Rock Shooter. You said she was your bodyguard, which must mean she is close" Dead Master said coldly.

"She is. Before I tell you, I want to know what you want from her" Koko said calmly.

One of Dead Master's hands came off the scythe to hold to her side. She had a good idea of what to expect, hence when more lights formed into a new weapon she wasn't surprised. Its final form did have her attention however. It was a short curved sword, at a glance it was almost identical to her companions. The difference lay in the blade itself: it was a glossy dark metal, as black as a moonless night. The soft fluorescents above and the streaming sunlight gave it a hazy sheen.

"I'm going to return this. Preferential through her abdomen" she spoke. Her tight lips spilt into a grin, one that made Koko's skin crawl.

"That wasn't part of the plan" the boy objected. Both females gave him a dry look.

"I'm pretty sure your plan is shot anyway" Koko said sympathetically. Her hand went for her pocket, stopping when the weapon twitched closer to her.

"You want to see her for yourself? Than allow me" she told the girl. Continuing her previous action, Koko felt a twinge of relief that the scythe stayed where it was. Her phone was brought up to chest level, her hand already working on the screen. She hoped the girl wouldn't discover that she had sent a text first.

Mao's phone buzzed, which he quickly checked.

"Disable if possible" he read aloud. Lehm huffed satisfactorily.

In the car Ugo's phone went off. Putting it to his ear, he heard the words he'd been dreading.

"Send Rock out. Alone" Koko ordered before ending the call. Lowering the phone, she beheld the smirk on Dead Master's features.

"Good" was all she said. With that, she turned to stroll out the door without a second glance.

"W-wait!" the boy sputtered, but she ignored him.

Black Rock Shooter's door unlocked, the signal she'd been waiting for. She did have enough sense to check the men; Ugo had the SAW in position to rake the girl when he saw her, and Jonah had his Browning to make doubly sure they got her. Neither of them would be the first, since Lehm had a clear view of the entrance. One shot would be all that they needed, unless she knew how sniping worked. A favorable situation for her, one that made her gut clench in anger. One of Lutz's lessons came back to her, perfect for the situation.

Eleven cellphones buzzed at the same time. In the perch Mao checked for the two of them, utterly shocked at the contents. Inside the café each of the bodyguards had a sudden queasy look, knowing that none of them could answer the devices. Koko did, since she alone could. She had a suspicion of what the blanket text could be, and when she opened the text she was proven right.

 _Leave her to me_ , it read. Ugo and Jonah looked at her uneasily.

"You sure you can take her?" the former asked gravely. Setting her jaw straight, she nodded. To reassure them she patted her belt, where her newest SIG rested in its holster. Just as she unlatched the door, Jonah put his hand on her shoulder.

"Let me do something first" he urged. Looking into his eyes, she nodded.

Dead Master strolled through the glass door without a care. The people inside had served their purpose, though she did feel a twinge of regret at leaving them to their fates like that. It passed quickly, and she focused all of her attention to the task at hand. It never occurred to her that the cause behind the table display had her in his sights, a gentle pull of the trigger away from extinguishing her life. She brushed past the pedestrians, ignoring their curses and cries. Her two weapons trailed her, brokering no argument. She stopped on the edge of the sidewalk, just off the street.

Black Rock Shooter exited the car, her blue eyes scanning the sidewalk in front of the café. Behind her Jonah shut the door, taking a steadying breath. He raised his gun to the sky and squeezed off two shots. The effect was immediate; screams enveloped the crowds, making them duck and run as fast as they could run. Less than thirty seconds was all that was needed to heavily reduce the chance of accidental casualties. The scattering crowd dissipated, leaving one standing on the sidewalk in front.

Fifty feet apart from each other, piercing blue eyes met piercing green eyes.

"At last" Dead Master whispered, a vicious smile overcoming her.

Black Rock Shooter stared back at her, her features inscrutable as her cannon and her sword materialized in her hands. That lasted until the horned girl raised one of her own hands, the one with the black sword, to point at the girl.

Over her left eye, a powerful blue flame burst to life.

 **Black Rock Shooter theme: The Outside - Red**

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 **A/N: and thats all folks. No more chapters will be posted after this. I'm officially pulling a Madhouse, bwahahaha! Just kidding, don't freak out yet.**

 **Tune in next time for chapter eight, a.k.a. the one you really want.**


	8. The part where they fight

**A/N: admit people, this is what you've been wanting the whole time.**

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Black Rock Shooter and Dead Master coolly regarded each other from opposite sides of the street. The last of the civilians were in the process of clearing out, mostly because of the gunfire. More than a few, the ones closest to the twin beings, would later report they felt a charge of tension in the air, akin to a lightning storm. No matter the reason, they left as quickly as they could.

Unnoticed by either of them Jonah and Ugo crept away from the scene feeling the same charge that the pedestrians did. Inside the MBS café, the standoff was mutually broken off with neither side being fully aware of it. As they crowded the street windows the one thing they all shared was the feeling of expectation, of some monumental event that none of them wanted to miss.

Dead Master turned the sword bearing hand to the side, presenting her clenched fist to Black Rock Shooter. One of her claws came off of the hilt to point outwards at her, much like the sword a couple of minutes earlier. Then, slowly and with great deliberation, the finger curled up in a wagging motion. It was repeated twice more in quick succession, its owner making sure the point got across in a crystal clear gesture.

Black Rock Shooter, her left eye still burning with the unearthly flame, tipped her head forward.

In the blink of an eye she was off, eating up the distance between them as fast as her inhuman abilities could move her. Her sword trailed the ground to deliver a vicious upwards slash, only to be met by the resounding clash of the other girl's scythe. Dead Master was already smirking in time for her metal fist to swing at her neck, hitting with more power than anything else in the city had experienced.

All of her breath was knocked out of her, and she was dimly aware that she was flying through the air. She returned to her senses in time to correct her fall, barely managing to land on her feet. Glancing up, she noted sourly that Dead Master had not just knocked her back across most of the street, but was advancing on her twirling her scythe daintily. She was still smirking, an expression she wanted to tear off.

Her cannon was brought up and she started to fire off blue bolts. The weapon's twirling ended, swinging faster than her eyes could track to swing at the shots. The first bolt was, to the astonishment of the observers, deflected. It broke up upon contact, having no effect. Each successive one was met in the same way, dissipated into oblivion by the curved blade. The sole thing it achieved was halting Dead Master in her tracks, giving Black Rock Shooter precious seconds to figure out a plan.

She never got the chance. Instead of blocking the next bolt, the horned girl suddenly ducked out of the way. She charged and swung the weapon wide. Black Rock Shooter widened her eyes, bringing her sword up to parry. A resounding metallic clash boomed from the sheer force behind the blow, almost enough to knock her off her feet once again. Almost, but not quite. It skidded her back a few feet, but both of them needed a second to regain their balance.

"You're out of shape" Dead Master taunted, the remark strained under the effort.

Black Rock Shooter responded with a rude gesture.

Dismissing the cannon, she ran at her slashing the sword. For anyone else, she would emerge victorious in a few seconds. But this was Dead Master, to her knowledge the most skilled scythe wielder on the planet. She parried the attack, and attempted one herself. Using both the handle and the blade itself, what was a cumbersome tool for anyone else turned into a deadly weapon. A swish knocked the weak strike aside, the silent girl grimacing at the situation.

Black Rock Shooter attempted a lesson Valmet taught her: a feint. A quick jab to try to get the horned girl to make an opening. To her frustration Dead Master didn't fall for it, she partied the blow but attempted nothing beyond that. The second feint had the same results as the first. A third attempt was an actual attack, which she smiled in satisfaction when the horned girl failed to block it properly. Her green eyes widened as the scythe was twisted aside by the sword, leaving an opening. Black Rock Shooter summoned her cannon with as much speed as she could, shoving the half formed weapon at her chest and fired off a shot.

Her haste is what saved Dead Master's life. If it was fully formed and had three or four seconds to charge she would have a large hole where her torso should be. But with a split second charge, to say nothing of being only half formed, the blast struck with a concussive whack and little else. She left the ground for a moment, her scythe nearly tumbling from her hand. A cry of pain escaped her.

Dead Master rolled once before flipping back to her feet, barely in time to avoid another swipe. Her scythe came back up to narrowly block another slash, her eyes going wide as she realized the tables were turned. She kept getting forced back, unable to recover, unable to do anything past frantically swiping her weapon to keep the attacking Black Rock Shooter away from her. The metallic clanks resounded through the air, and the vibrations from the constant impacts shook her to the core.

Black Rock Shooter kept up the pressure, using her sword for quick cuts and the cannon for heavier blows. Both weapons were suffering badly from the abuse, alerting her to how much time she had left before she had to replace them. She knew that if she was able to knock her unconscious (death was preferable but Koko would want her alive) then she would win the fight. Thinking it was simple, carrying it out was something else entirely.

The horned girl backed into an SUV. She took her eyes off of her attacker for a split second to see what it was, but it was a poorly spent split second. When her attention snapped back around, she found the edge of a sword coming down on her. The handle of her weapon was brought up, just in time to block the worst of it. Hard metal bit into her shoulder, shallow and painful. Another cry escaped her, to which Black Rock Shooter returned a smirk to.

Dead Master overpowered the one handed sword easily, flinging it aside. By doing so she forced her scythe away, leaving a gaping opening. She discovered too late it was exactly what the girl wanted, the cannon already glowing in anticipation of firing. No more than a second would be needed to aim it, and with as close as she was the chances of the shot missing were negligible. She did the only thing she could do; she swung her foot at it.

It did the trick. The kick pushed the barrel aside just after Black Rock Shooter fired, the bolt discharging into a sedan immediately behind the SUV. Like the half formed shot, the concussive force buffeted both of them, disorienting but failing to cause any real injuries. Though her ears were ringing and her vision was fuzzy, Dead Master knew it was her best chance at evening the odds.

Black Rock Shooter grimaced as her internal balance righted itself. She made a mental note to never fire a charged burst at point blank again. When she saw Dead Master quickly vault over the roof of the car her grimace morphed into a scowl, the fire over her eye intensifying. Rather than following her, she darted forward, where an empty parking space was located. A thumping weight from her belt reminded her she had more than a few options available. Stopping at the vehicle's grill, she dismissed the sword to grab the long neglected SIG (her third one actually, but she thought of it as neglected) from its holster.

With a human pistol in one hand and an inhuman weapon in the other, she flung herself around the corner with both barrels raised, only to drop down. She had little time to do anything about the thrown trash can that was suddenly flying at her, missing her by centimeters. No sooner did it fly past before Dead Master was on her again. The vicious downward attack passed by so close she could swear she felt the feather touch of the blade brush against her. She flipped and brought the guns back up, squeezing off a shot from each. To her infernal frustration neither did a thing; the blue bolt slammed into a storefront window and shattering it, and the SIG's trigger refused to budge.

Rather than flip the safety and probably rack the slide to put a bullet in the chamber as well, in the face of the horned girl charging, she threw it at her with as much force as she could muster, summoning her sword at once. One swing from the scythe neatly bisected the gun mid flight. She shot the cannon again, but a quick dodge behind a car did nothing but give whoever owned it grief later. Jumping out again she got close enough that the cannon was useless, so she dismissed it.

Again sword met scythe, Dead Master forcing Black Rock Shooter to dash backwards while parrying. But this time, when the latter tried to get some distance between them she felt a metal embrace coil around her ankle. The former suddenly stopped to yank her arm back, the waiting chain taking the blazing girl's legs going out from under her. She had enough time to think over her mistake and contemplate how badly she messed up before her back hit the hard concrete and she was roughly dragged away.

A muffled grunt escaped Dead Master as she swung. Fifty kilos of Black Rock Shooter left the ground to tumble through the air, to smack against a car windshield. The reinforced glass did its job by crumpling instead of outright shattering under the impact. Dazed, her expression slid into the odd zone between pain and restful. The flame over her eye flickered uncertainly. It lasted until the horned girl gave another mighty heave, yanking her out of the wreckage to fly once more.

This time she had a little more coherency to her thoughts, even past the fog of the impact. She couldn't do much but she could make sure her arms took the landing onto the next car. The shearing pain cut through the mist to bring all of her senses back to the moment. An experiment in moving brought only wincing hurt, making her wonder of she broke some of her bones. Shaking her head (causing both her hair and the flame to jostle), she decided it didn't matter. She could move, that would be all she needed.

The grip on her ankle tied, and she had her cue to summon her sword. When she went into the air for a third time, Black Rock Shooter suddenly twisted her body around to swing her blade down. One quiet chink and her leg was free. Dead Master's pleased countenance fell away to be replaced by one of shock. She would've returned a smirk if gravity hadn't curtly reminded her of how the world works, making her discover that her plan had a single glaring flaw.

One of the universe's fundamental laws showed the blazing girl exactly what it thought of her: she landed on her side, crushing her pocketed phone and sending red hot agony coursing throughout her system. She gasped, even her high pain threshold temporarily overwhelmed. Despite that she tried to force herself back to her feet, knowing that her little stunt would buy seconds at most.

Rattling chains and a self satisfied chuckle alerted her that her time was up. The furthest she got was hands and knees unfortunately. Her flaming eye coldly regarded the approaching horned girl, who had decided to go for flash. In one hand her scythe weaved and bobbed, in the other a spool of semi-dexterous chains left to slid and coil over the asphalt. Just as she assumed, Dead Master had a fresh, violence inducing smirk on her features, begging for a fist.

"Don't tell me you're tuckered out already" she cooed playfully, steadily approaching. Black Rock Shooter reviewed her options. Full functionality was a pipe dream for the current situation, so that was out. Any movement she did was full of agony, limiting her mobility, so the sword was a last ditch option at minimum. The cannon didn't shoot fast enough to overcome her blocks. That left one viable option.

She smiled, readying a nasty surprise.

"Come now, lets end this fun game and go find ourselves a secluded spot, like the old..." Dead Master's playful tone faded as she noticed dancing lights underneath the hunched up girl. Confusion quickly turned to alarm when she brushed her coat aside to reveal the freshly conjured multibarreled chain gun.

The second the distinctive whirr of the weapons barrels beginning to spin made Dead Master dismiss her weapons and dive for cover. It was almost impossible for a human to escape in tine, making her glad she wasn't one. A swarm of blue bolts tore apart the damaged SUV, raking across the shop windows to track the sprinting girl. Black Rock Shooter intentionally aimed high, seeking to avoid accidental casualties.

Dead Master chose discretion over valor, and dived through a shop window a frantic heartbeat before the stream of firepower tore her apart. The glass shattered, creating a new pattern of tiny cuts on her arms and legs. If that was the price for dodging certain death, she wouldn't argue. Her landing over the shop's counter went worse than she expected it to, knocking over a stereo left in the middle of the flat surface to land right next to her.

By an odd set of circumstances, the rather durable set had the play button hit by a piece of debris. Though a constant line of flashing blue bolts filled the air a foot above her head to turn the store's back wall into a pulped mess, it remained undamaged. When it started to play the last selected song, Dead Master nearly had a heart attack from the sudden shock.

"~ _Don't trip run 'n fall and get your ankle sprained! You know horror stories all end the same, you screamin and bawlin, all down the lane~_ " the machine sang. From outside Black Rock Shooter's paused in her struggle to heft the giant weapon, certain that she could hear music over the gunfire.

Dead Master stared dryly at the box before giving it a balled up fist to make it shut up. However, the stereo was stoutly built, so instead of silencing the noise maker it merely switched it to a new song.

"- _you ready steve? 'Uh huh'. Andy? Yeah. Mick? Okay. Alright fellas, lets goooo!_ ~" went the lyrics before a guitar solo took over. Giving it some thought, she found herself tapping along with the song. Then she remembered that her life was in peril and ignored it.

The gunfire ceased. Black Rock Shooter stopped mashing the trigger of her oversized weapon, ending the deluge of blue bolts. However, its three barrels kept spinning, a constant high pitched whine that heralded more of the same punishment. Despite its sheer bulk and her injuries she managed to heft the weapon where she wanted it to go, especially after seeing the horned girl take off running. It was her second most powerful weapon, and she was not about to concede her greatest advantage without a good reason.

Inside the destroyed store Dead Master briefly contemplated peeking over a counter, but she dismissed the idea quickly. She was willing to gamble that the blazing girl was still outside, watching for movement of any kind. Her suspicion was proven correct once the constant ringing in her ears died down, when she heard a thin whirring from outside the shop. Suddenly she realized the radio was still on, and after a few seconds of staring at it she found the pause button. The song was in the middle of an enticing chorus when it was at last silenced.

Outside Black Rock Shooter stiffened, hearing the music cut off. It was her sign that her foe was not only still breathing, but alert. Several plans of how to get her out of there crossed her mind, none of them tactically viable. No matter what, her advantageous position of staying out front with the big gun would soon have to be abandoned. Her only hope was that the new situation would be in her favor.

Her hope was quashed in seconds. She noticed some flashing lights from inside the store, correctly assuming it to be Dead Master readying her weapons. What they turned out to be still caught her by surprise. For what flew out of the ruined storefront was a large black skull, screaming out with no regard for anything unfortunate enough to be in its path. Her foresight paid off; the circling barrels spat out at once, raking the skull and stopping it in its tracks. Under the punishment it crumpled and disintegrated.

No sooner did the first fall did the second fly out. Black Rock Shooter needed a couple of seconds to adjust her aim, but it was time she didn't have. The skull bowled her over, knocking her away and tipping her best chance apart. Scrambling to her feet, she saw Dead Master jump out of the store with her scythe in hand. Quickly she dismissed the chain gun and summoned her sword, preparing for another fight.

The remaining skull swooped by Dead Master, slowing down enough for her to jump on as it flew away. Black Rock Shooter was briefly stunned, the incongruity of what she was observing contrasting sharply with what she knew of the horned girl's behavior. Even with time spent on earth, there was no way her actions would lead to something as mind boggling as full retreat when she was still able to fight.

When the flying skull swerved around for another pass she sighed in relief without being entirely aware of it. Shaking off her thoughts she summoned her cannon to aim at the two approaching threats. It didn't have the accuracy or the power to take either her or the skull down in one salvo, but shooting and hoping for a little effect at range was better than giving her the initiative. Taking aim, she squeezed off two blasts.

Deft maneuvering on the skull's part made it dodge both of the shots. It made no effort to slow down, only to climb up away from the ground. As it passed over Dead Master leaped off to attack. She dodged out of the way easily enough, but the horned girl was quicker than she expected. In a blink she was on her, swinging the scythe in a wide arc. Despite her best efforts to stay out of the way, the point of the curved blade cut a fine line across her stomach.

Dead Master grinned. Just as Black Rock Shooter decided to introduce the aggravating smile to her boot, something large hit her in the back, knocking her off balance. With a start she remembered the remaining skull, discovering it hadn't been idle while its mistress was occupied. The horned girl used the opportunity to send a vicious sideways slash at her, which she barely managed to dodge. It wasn't quite fast enough, and a sliver of her longer pigtail departed.

She started to deliver a powerful kick at the lowered Black Rock Shooter, something the blazing girl anticipated. The sword was dropped as she snatched her foot mid kick, needing only a yank to take the girl off her feet. A quick yelp was all she could do before she too slammed into the pavement, her opponent crawling up to with balled fists and murder in her eyes.

Black Rock Shooter had enough of the fight, resolving to end it by any means necessary. No more finesse, no more grace. Grabbing a fistful of her shirt, she yanked her up to punch her in the face. Dead Master's claws raked her arms, renting painful wounds into her flesh. Again and again she drew back to pound her face into the hot pavement, nothing but bitter rage left in her heart. Blood freely leaked from her nostrils and mouth from the constant hits.

It was entirely possible it would've ended there, both severely injured but only one still breathing at the end. Black Rock Shooter would've been messy and undignified, standing over the near animalistic display of violence, but in the end victorious. She would've endured the shocked looks from her comrades, fearful of the brutal killer she truly was. She would happily accept the consequences, if it meant that the one below her no longer had a pulse.

It would've happened, if the black skull hadn't swung back around to save its mistress.

Black Rock Shooter's entire world had narrowed down to what was in front of her, so the skull slamming into her caught her unaware. Blinding pain overcame her, dulling her consciousness to the point where she needed a few seconds to become aware that that she had left the ground entirely. She dimly wondered where it was taking her, especially when the light itself suddenly lowered considerably.

Her answer came in the form of another large flat object slamming into her back, knocking out what little air remained in her lungs. The skull backed up a couple of feet to slam her limp body back against the object. When it did she slid off the glossy surface to crumple on the rough ground. Several seconds of suffering went by before Black Rock Shooter's muscles were willing to respond again. Every spasm felt like acute torture.

Using her wobbling arms to prop herself up, the thing she checked at once was her environment. She discovered three things in quick succession: first that she was in an alleyway, empty save for scattered piles of garbage. The second was that the hard object she got unwillingly intimate with was a large metal dumpster, complete with a slight indentation in human form. The third and last was that the floating skull had instead of vanishing had backed away, watching her with its glowing sockets. She wondered why.

Moving her gaze, she found out why. Dead Master half tromped, half limped from the street into the narrow space. Her face was starting to swell and a line of blood leaked from her nose and the corner of her mouth, but she was still alive. She had to use her scythe to help her walk, giving Black Rock Shooter a slim hope of killing her. Forcing her heavily damaged body to respond, she started to move towards that goal.

If getting her body off the filthy ground was agony, then getting to her feet was hell. Pain from wounds uncountable all wailed in protest, making it difficult to think clearly. What little active thought remaining in Black Rock Shooter went only to two tasks: standing up, and summoning her cannon. She succeeded in the former before Dead Master reached her, her trembling legs threatening to give out any second.

"Well, well, well" Dead Master mumbled. Unnoticed by the blazing girl (the flame was low and flickering) the skull dissolved into flashing lights.

"Aren't you a sight for sore eyes" she commented haltingly. New lights danced down Black Rock Shooter's bleeding arm, forming the cannon.

Too late. A slight rattle was all the warning Dead Master gave before chains snaked out of her sleeve. They reached out to coil around Black Rock Shooter and the dumpster, for several seconds doing nothing to her. Just as the girl raised her cannon, her true intent was revealed. With a gesture they wrapped around her stomach and legs, roughly dragging her back against the metal surface. She was too weak to do more than struggle.

More chains curled around her arms, slinging them back to leave the cannon held away. Black Rock Shooter resisted, but there was little she could do to stop the tightening chains. She figured against the hold, feeling more snaking around her. Four more forced her ankles and wrists to remain where Dead Master wanted them. Two more wrapped around her torso, and one more went over her forehead. She was left splayed against the dumpster, completely exposed.

"Finally" Dead Master hissed, limping closer to her. An errant thought in the chained girl's mind compared her current situation to her true introduction of Koko, noting the similarities. The difference was that then she had no idea what trials were ahead of her; here, she knew full well what would happen.

"I've been dreaming of this moment for a long time. You, helpless, at my mercy" she drawled, coming within a foot of Black Rock Shooter. She was still, attempting to conserve her strength.

"Though I admit, the present circumstances aren't what I wanted. No matter. A few days and it'll be just us again" she went on. The tight expression she adopted never changed.

"In the meantime, you hurt me. I'm going to have to..." she leaned her face in until they were nearly touching "punish you" she sensually whispered. Black Rock Shooter spat in her face. She flinched away, bringing up a claw to smear the saliva away.

"Perhaps not. It doesn't matter. We have all the time in the world now. Maybe, just maybe" she gave up on wiping it away to lower the claw to her scarred stomach "we'll reignite that spark between us. What do you say?" her clawed hand clenched Black Rock Shooter's crotch and squeezed. The looked of sheer revulsion on her face only brought a chuckle.

"In time. In time" Dead Master murmured, lowering her hand. If looks could kill, then her expression would fetch a high price. Suddenly Black Rock Shooter's glower suddenly stopped, quickly morphing into a wry smile.

"Oh what? You think you're pitiful humans can stop me?" Dead Master taunted. She nodded in a direction behind her. Her mood souring, she decided to put the matter to rest. Turning around, she was struck speechless.

Standing ten feet away was the boy she spotted getting out of the car with her, a gun in his hands pointed right at her.

" _...What...?_ " was all she managed.

Jonah fired. The first 9mm round tore into her shoulder, sending her staggering back. The second shot hit her thigh, making her fall to one knees. The third bullet hit her stomach, causing her to collapse. Advancing on the fallen Dead Master, he kept the smoking barrel fixated on her, unnervingly tracking her every move. As she bled out on the ground gasping for breath, she looked into his red eyes and knew mortal terror for the first time.

Once he was certain she was neutralized, Jonah turned to the remaining girl. Once the gunfire struck Dead Master the chains slackened, allowing Black Rock Shooter to struggle out of the tight embrace to freedom. She too collapsed, only her arms keeping part of her off of the ground. When she managed to get her head tilted back up, she found an outstretched hand waiting for her. She thought it over for a second before figuratively shrugging, grasping his strong hold.

Even with his help, getting back to her feet was a challenge. Her legs still felt wobbly, and the arm that Dead Master clawed felt too badly injured to rely on. But she managed, feeling acute pain crawling over every part of her. Slowly shaking her head to keep a grimace contained, she sighed before turning back to Jonah. He waited patiently, taking the opportunity to pull an object from his pocket to offer to her. When he opened his palm, it turned out to be his phone, the same model as hers.

"I saw you land on your side, so I think yours is busted" he said flatly. Black Rock Shooter took it, unable to suppress a wince. She nodded in thanks, before balling up her fist to 'tap' (i.e. a light punch) his arm. He winced himself before rubbing the spot, keeping the gun in Dead Master's direction.

"What was that for?" he asked, hurt. It took double the amount of time for her to write out a response than it usually would.

 _I said leave her to me_ , it read. Jonah looked over her bruised and bloodied form, noting the fire over her eye was gone.

"I helped slaughter a factory full of soldiers for Valmet. You really should've expected this" he replied dryly. Black Rock Shooter rolled her eyes, exhaling. She typed out something else before presenting to him.

 _Thanks tho_ , it read. She gave a weak smile.

"You're welcome" he said back, giving one of his own.

Black Rock Shooter turned back to Dead Master, her expression shifting to cold determination. She hobbled closer to the girl, typing something out on her phone before showing it back to the boy.

 _The sword._ Jonah was confused yet walked over to her anyway. Dead Master tried to crawl away, but the severity of her injures meant she didn't get more than a couple of feet.

"...Get...ah...away from...me" she gasped. Giving her a once over he decided to call a hospital when they were finished.

"The sword. Now" he stated, glancing at Black Rock Shooter to check; she nodded.

"Go... _to hell_ " she weakly spat. He was in arms reach, allowing for one burst of effort to wrap her claws around his ankle. Unperturbed, Jonah merely crouched down to point the pistol inches above the bridge of her nose. Her widening eyes told him everything.

"First, let go. Second, the sword. Do that and I'll call a hospital for you. Don't..." Jonah tapped the barrel between her eyes. Her breathing noticeably picked up.

Her hand relaxed, freeing his ankle from her tight grip. Dead Master's other hand curled inward, clenching into a fist. Lights danced out, creating an sight he longer found fascinating. It formed into an oddly familiar form, made all the worse when it solidified into metal. A sword that was a close copy of another one he knew well, save for its glossy black steel.

Black Rock Shooter crouched down, going slowly. Her hands went for the claws, the metal appendages opening at once. Her fingers wrapped around the grip, taking it from her. After that came an uncertain span of rising back onto her feet, doing her upmost despite her injuries. Her expression hardening, she kept the point of the sword pressed against the ground. Jonah stayed where he was, watching with interest.

Tiny motes of light flowed from her hand down the sword, temporarily distorting its appearance. When they reached the ground she brought it up to drop it back against the ground. Black dust appeared from nowhere, briefly cascading in a dark puff. When she raised it up to examine it in the light, there was a fundamental difference in the weapon. Jonah couldn't put his finger on what it could be, but it seemed to be less _wrong_. He didn't know what to make of that. She tipped her head, the black blade breaking into lights to vanish into thin air.

"Better now?" he asked her. She nodded, smiling weakly. Her head suddenly picked up, almost at the same time as Jonah. They both turned to the entrance of the ally, where the sounds of sirens grew steadily louder.

"Thats our cue I guess. Just like in Dubai, okay?" he told her, to which she nodded to. Sparing a glance at Dead Master, his heart skipped a beat when he saw that she had closed her eyes and was still. He rushed over, putting two fingers to her neck. Several tense seconds (for him anyway) passed before he sighed in relief.

"She's still alive. I think she's unconscious" he reported to her. Black Rock Shooter looked more disappointed than relieved.

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 **A/N: well, that was something. Believe it or not this was a lot harder than you would think to do. Writing out hand to hand combat is infinitely more complex than gunplay. Anyway, I'm hoping that its lived up to your expectations. Probably not but eh, I tried.**

 **Music used: Brains - Klaypex ft Kings High and Ballroom Blitz - Sweet. Should go without saying, I own neither of these and used the lyrics without permission. I am making not a cent, yuan, or any other denomination of currency off of this. If I did, you think I'd be making this big spiel in terror that someone would report me and take the story down? Go throw your money at those two, leave me be. Court fines are expensive you know.**


	9. Chapter 9

**A/N: Whelp, now I've officially jumped the shark. Only good thing is to say the story's almost over.**

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 _Woodcrest, early evening..._

Koko was the model of statuesque. Four hours of patient interrogation by the local cops and the most she did was smile, nod, or shake her head.

"Now miss Hekmitar" the drawling detective begun, the eighth since they started. His mangled pronunciation of her name was likely intentional, meant to aggravate her. Behind her a silent detective kept a stoic vigil, as far as she could see anyway. The room she was in was a standard interrogation room, four chairs and a table (all plain metal) and a large two way mirror. She could see faint silhouettes on the other side of it.

"We are aware of your occupation, and what exactly it involves. I have here a document pertaining to just one incident, a certain murder investigation in" the balding detective glanced at a sheet of paper in front of him "Alexandria, Egypt. Am I wrong?" he posed to her. She shook her head blandly, wearing a blank smile.

 _Idiot_ , she said mentally. Compared to the numerous foreign law enforcement agencies she faced in her time, these men were barely worth her attention.

What was occupying the majority of her thoughts was the well being of the rest of her men, particularly Black Rock Shooter. She caught a glimpse of the girl before she was cuffed, making her worry. Not her injuries, though she did worry about those, but rather how she would be treated. Her improvised cover of being the diplomatic representative of Bulgaria (a Colonel in that nation's army owed her a favor) would only go so far, especially once the local agencies began to analyze her damage the battle had inflicted, and they discovered what caused it.

"C'mon now. We're not going to do sumthin like hand you over to Interpol. This is a local matter. Now, if you were to explain what happened here today, I'm sure the prosecutor can arrange a deal for you" he said enticingly, gathering a warm smile.

Her own silent response did little beyond adding a hard edge to it, something she enjoyed. Koko knew they could only endlessly interrogate her or hand her over to a higher authority. If she was in a different country she would have more caution, but she was in America. They had high standards, high enough that they wouldn't resort to techniques like waterboarding unless they were absolutely certain they could get away with it, and even then they would likely dispose of her afterwards.

"You can sit there all high 'n mighty, but sooner or later-" the drawling detective angrily started.

From behind her a familiar buzzing sound emitted. She knew what it was at once, noting that the only reason she heard it at all was because the other detective was so close to her. The man dragged the phone from its clasp to silence it, in the process creating a pregnant silence in the tiny room. It lasted for several seconds before he made an unseen gesture to the balding man. A very unsettled expression came over him, and it was with great reluctance he rose from his chair. She finally dropped her enigmatic smile, feeling puzzled as the men soundlessly left the room.

Koko suddenly had an uncomfortable feeling in the pit of her stomach. The looks the men had was akin to worry, like whatever was about to happen was not part of their standard procedures. That in turn made her worry; she was trapped in a small room, alone, and completely unarmed. Her men were nowhere close to her, probably in the same situation as her to boot. If someone who was 'outside the law' came in to deal with her personally, there was nothing she could do about it.

When the door unlatched she thought for a second that her fears were validated. She tensed, wondering if they were going to ask a question first or or discard the preamble and just shoot her. It swung open, revealing a thick individual in a suit that leisurely went to take the seat the detective was in. He was an older man that was balding, yet he had an air to him that Koko recognized immediately; power, of someone who was used to getting his way. Normally how she dealt with those types of people was to either keep them at arms length or to knock them down a peg.

...Only neither of those were possible. She was at his mercy, and there was nothing that could be done to change that.

"Miss Hekmatyr" he greeted, smiling coldly. Koko had her own default smile on, hoping he wasn't perceptive enough to see her fear underneath.

"You have me at a disadvantage mister..." she trailed off. He stuck out a meaty hand, which she accepted.

"Edward Wuncler" he answered. As Koko shook his hand, she felt a clamminess to his grip that left her feeling nauseous.

"To what do I owe this pleasure mister Wuncler?" she asked relaxedly, by an act of will. He mercifully released her hand to slide back into his seat.

"Just wrapping up some loose ends. I'll get the obvious out of the way: I know who you are, and I know what you do for a living" he stated.

"Oh?" Koko went neutrally.

"I own fifteen percent of HCLI's stock" he said.

 _Oh shit_ "My apologies sir. I didn't realize who you were, please forgive my rudeness" Koko politely begged.

"That's alright. Its for this reason is why I'm here right now. Here's what's going to happen" he began.

"I'm listening" she said.

"All the charges against you and your people, extortion, illegal weapons possession, property damage, I'm going to sweep it all away. In exchange, you have six hours to leave this state and never return. Come back anyway and I'll make sure you won't see the light of day ever again" he outlined.

"Is there any room for negotiation?" she asked. The corners of his mouth twitched upwards a notch.

"Depends" he answered enigmatically, in a way Koko often used herself.

 _So this is what its like on the receiving end_ , she thought.

"That other girl, Dead Master. I'd like to take her with me. If possible I'd like to talk to this plot's ringleader too" she told him.

"Acceptable" he agreed.

"Excellent. Thank you for your hospitality" Koko said, extending her hand again. To her a revulsion shaking hands with him a second time was somehow worse than the first time.

"My pleasure" he said, thankfully giving only two swings before releasing. He gestured at the window before strolling to the door. It opened and stayed opened.

When she exited she saw first that Wuncler was walking away, accosted by none of the dozen or so cops in her field of view. Their attitude was somewhere between respect and fear, as far as she saw. Second was that a baby faced cop was waiting for her already. Staying by her side, he escorted her away from the interrogation room, to a thin door. Two twists and turns later and she found herself in the main lobby. She searched around for a moment before she spotted familiar faces, unaware that she was relived. Leaving the cop behind, she walked to her awaiting men.

"There you are boss. I was getting worried" Lehm greeted with a smile. Around him was Wiley, Ugo, and Mao.

"Me too. Any problems on your end?" Koko asked them. Each of them shook their head.

"Nothing bad. Though they did give Wiley a hard time though" Mao added. Frowning, she turned to the large man.

"Its no big deal Koko. Though, I wouldn't mind getting out of here soon. I'm getting a bad vibe from these people" he said, sparing a glance at a few wary looking cops indiscreetly watching them.

"Ditto. Good news is that a local power magnate has taken care of everything" she announced, making the four pick up.

"Define power" Ugo asked uncertainly.

"He owns the police here. And owns fifteen percent of HCLI" she replied, making the dark complexioned man go a shade paler.

"So, wait, why'd he let us go then?" Mao asked.

"I have a theory, but for now, lets just count our blessings. Ugo, is a car outside?" she asked.

"The rental, yeah. They were kind enough to haul it in for us. Not used to service like this" he joked lamely.

"Good. And the others?" she turned to Lehm, who paused while reaching for a cigarette.

"At the hospital, looking over the girls. They're in rough shape. I'd advise against leaving right now for their sakes" he reported.

"We got a little under six hours. Rocks still conscious last I checked, and as long as this other girls is stable there won't be a problem" she replied, taking a look at the cops herself. To her relief they went about their business, leaving them alone. She checked the clock too, wondering how much longer they would be.

"For now anyway. That was some hardcore brutality back there. I don't think keeping them in close proximity is going to be a good idea" Lehm said in concern.

"I know, we'll figure something out" she assured.

"Hope so. This is the third time in two months you've been arrested and got off easy. I'd hate to push our luck further" Ugo said.

"Me too. And this is after that whole refinery fiasco as well. Yes?" she asked Mao, who had an arm raised to chest level like a school kid.

"Yeah, question. Why are we still in here?" he asked, waving a hand around the station lobby. None of the five had moved in the past several minutes.

"Now that you mention it..." Lehm said lowly, giving Koko a questioning glance. She glanced at her watch and frowned.

"I know. But they shouldn't be-" the door that she exited from a few minutes earlier swung open again, revealing both a new face and a familiar one.

"Speak of the devil" she murmured. The bearded cop escorted an african-american boy, one with a large afro, to the small gathering. The boy refused to look at any of them, his hard frown twisted by agitation. Koko and her people had no such problem, looking him over interestedly.

"Here's the release forms" the bored officer handed over a clipboard, which Koko errantly scribbled her name on. He took it back while nodding, and turned on his heels go leave the boy alone with them.

"So mister important, how are you feeling?" Koko genially asked.

"If you're going to kill me get it over with" he sourly muttered, making her chuckle.

"If I was going to do that you think I'd go through this whole mess? Now c'mon, you and I have a lot to discuss" she ordered, patting him on the back. The youth reluctantly began to walk, flanked on all sides by the bodyguards.

More resentful looks followed the party, wanting desperately to arrest them for crimes innumerable but stopped by the knowledge of the consequences. So the bulk of the police department did nothing, watching as the boy was escorted out, probably to a shallow grave in the woods or a watery nap in the river. The youth had his mind set, determined that when the time came he would not go screaming for help or begging for mercy. He knew that this was a possibility when he first contacted the pale woman, and was steeling his nerves for when it finally happened.

Outside the plain blue four door car that they drove in with was parked by the curb, a parking ticket stuck in the wiper blade. Ugo muttered a curse under his breath as he snagged it on his way to the drivers seat. Wiley went for the drivers seat, while Mao circled around to the far side. Lehm opened the door for her, making sure Koko was in first before admitting the afro'd youth. Once everyone was placed inside he hung over the small opening.

"Not coming?" Koko asked.

"Nah, no room for me. I think I'm going to take a walk around the block for a while" he explained.

"I didn't see any no smoking signs around" Wiley laughed, bringing a chuckle to everyone save the frowning boy.

"Hehe, alright. See you at the hospital" he said, closing the door. Ugo turned the ignition over and put the car in drive, pulling away at a reasonable pace. Lehm watched the vehicle for a moment, sighing wistfully before strolling away. He checked around one more time before he finally grabbed a smoke.

Inside the car the boy pointedly stared out the window, refusing to meet any of the occupants's eyes. Koko noticed, along with the three men. She wanted to extensively question him, but knew that it would work better if he spoke under his own volition. Given his age and the experience he just went though, it seemed like the better option. Though after ten minutes of silence broken only by Ugo consulting the GPS she rethought her decision. Her own patience was vast, but even that had its limits. Fortunately someone else had a better idea.

Wiley leaned over the back of the seat, craning his muscular form around to see the boy face to face.

"Hey there, I don't think I ever caught your name" he said friendly, jostling his arm for a moment to get it to the backseat with a sideways palm. The boy turned to stare flatly at the offering, doing nothing.

"Huey. Huey Freeman" he said quietly. After a tense few seconds he hesitantly raised his own to grasp the man's. Wiley's palm was larger than his entire hand.

"Nice to meet you. I'm William Nelson, but my friends call me Wiley" he explained, letting go. Each of them retracted their hands, but the glasses wearing man kept turned around to speak.

"Why do they call you that?" Huey asked him.

"Ever seen that road runner cartoon?" Wiley asked. The boy thought carefully before nodding.

"That Wile E. Coyote character has a knack for explosives, right? So do I. These guys say I get a little too far into it sometimes" he said jokingly.

"He does. You should've seen some of the BS he's done over the years" Mao commented. Huey stared blandly, then his eyes bulged when he comprehended what the words meant.

"You're a bomber?" he asked incredulously, shock overcoming his hard exterior. Wiley chuckled nervously, taking a second to rub the back of his head.

"Well...bomber isn't exactly right. I mean, yeah I kill people with bombs, but they usually deserve it" he explained sheepishly.

"Usually?" Huey repeated.

"Oh, don't take that the wrong way. Some of those people's bodyguards probably were decent folk, just picked the wrong guy to work for or something. Its not like I'm blowing up buses or train stations. Here, look" Wiley turned his head, showing the boy his temple. A thin horizontal line separated a part of his sideburn, a tiny scar upon close inspection.

"What's that?" he asked.

"Thats a graze from an Iraqi soldier shooting me in the First Gulf war. I didn't know anything about the guy, I'm sure he was a decent guy all things considered, but he was a guard in a chemical weapons factory. Command wanted the place wrecked, I and some Deltas made it happen" he explained. Huey kept staring uncertainly. Koko took the opportunity to step back in.

"See, we're not monsters. We are just regular people, doing a job to make a living just like everyone else" she proclaimed. Mao and Ugo coughed at the same time.

"You sell weapons" the boy said curtly. Mao opened his mouth to say something, only to shut it when he saw Wiley discreetly shaking his head.

"True. But its a lot more complicated that what you're assuming it to be. For starters-" the car lurched. They both looked to the front, wondering why he stopped. Koko looked out the window and made a quiet 'ah' noise.

"Where are we?" Huey demanded. The engine shut off, and both Ugo and Wiley opened their doors to step out. Mao followed suit a few seconds later, then Huey's door opened. Giving her a suspicious glance, he slid out of the rental's seat onto the pavement. In the sky the orange glow of the sunset was fading away to the blue toned black. He wondered if it was an analogy to his life.

"C'mon" Wiley waved on. Looking over the opposite side of the car, he discovered at last where the pale woman had taken him: Woodcrest General Hospital.

"You coming!?" the driver yelled over his shoulder as the four swiftly powered their way to the hospital's entrance.

Huey realized at that moment he was closer to escape than any time since noon. He was sure they weren't armed, and he could run as fast as his legs could carry him. True, the men were likely fast on their feet as well, but they didn't know the town like he did. There were a thousand places he could run to and hide, and by the time they found them he would be long gone. With as lax as they were acting, he had a feeling the woman didn't really think he was worth her time. If he ran, they probably would decide it wasn't worth the effort and leave him be.

And yet...

By all rights they should've killed him. Put a bullet in his brain the moment they were out of sight of the police department. Buried him in a shallow grave in the woods, a missing child until a hiker found his body. But they didn't. They gave him a lift, had a casual conversation, the bespectacled black man even shared a story with him. An act certainly; his story had many of the markers of being made up. He had no doubt all of the men in the car were killers, their boss was an arms dealer after all. So why was he still alive?

Every rational fiber in his being railed against it, but Huey decided to trot after the party.

He caught up to them just as the pale woman was getting directions from a receptionist. The chinese man near the back heard him approach, giving him a sideways glance and little else. She thanked the guide and took off in a stroll towards an elevator, all of the men falling in around her. Their pace was slow enough for him to catch up easily. Nervous and determined, he stood with them when the sliding doors opened, spilling out a n occupied doctor before they all piled in. His doubts subsided when the driver waited until he was inside before hitting the button, sealing the doors.

"So, change your mind?" Koko asked interestedly.

"You owe be an explanation" Huey tightly replied. She chuckled.

"Sure sure. But first, out of curiosity, how well does this Dead Master respond to you?" she questioned, earning a curious look from the three men.

"Why?" he questioned back. The gentle pulling sensation of rising altitude came to a halt, and the doors near silently slid open.

"A thought" she said simply. The four walked out with confidence, Huey on their heels. They only traveled a short distance before coming to a T-junction, where a blonde man with dark circles under his eyes leaned against the wall, waiting for them.

"Hey Koko" he greeted, pushing himself off the wall.

"Hey Lutz. How's things on this end?" she asked at once. Huey glanced at him, assigning a name to the face.

"Part good, part bad. They're both alright, but that horned girl got the worst of it. She'll live though" he answered.

"And Rock?" He jabbed a thumb to the right.

"Awake and conscious. Had to put her in a separate room after she tried to strangle her" he said with a chuckle, bringing a brief ripple of bemusement to them. As she turned to the direction he indicated, Lutz noticed the tagalong.

"Isn't that the kid from the cafe?" he asked curiously.

"His names Huey Freeman. He's the one who orchestrated thus whole thing, believe it or not" Ugo elaborated. Lutz gave him and the boy an astounded look in turn, which the boy frowned in response.

'Damn kid, you got balls" he said appreciably. Huey didn't know whether to be proud or wary at his praise. Seeing the woman walk away he decided on neither, quickly catching up to her.

Koko didn't need to ask which room the girls were in; the way the doctors and nurses hurriedly passed while looking nervously at the two told her what to look for. If that wasn't enough, seeing R in one of the doors would've worked. Feeling a presence he looked over, finding his boss upon him. They exchanged brief greetings before she glanced inside. Nodding, she moved on to the next. The italian wanted to check over her, but he knew what was on her mind. She would fill them in later anyway. The afro'd boy did make him look on questionably, though he said nothing about his presence.

She swung into the last room, discovering the trio that a short time ago gave her a massive headache. In a way not much had changed.

"Good evening, how's everyone doing?" Koko asked cheerfully. Valmet rose from her chair with a smile, while Jonah nodded in acknowledgement. She refrained from looking at the bed just yet.

"We're all fine, cops let us go after a little while. They did give Jonah a hard time though" Valmet reported concernedly, giving him a worried look at Koko joined in on.

"They didn't do anything to you did they?" she asked him anxiously. The boy, ever calm, shook his head.

"Called me something rude. One tried to man handle me, I broke his finger" Jonah answered blandly. Koko smiled in relief, starting to move to cuddle with him but catching herself. There was one more matter to take care of first. Letting out a breath, she turned to the last occupant on the bed, noting that her coat was off.

"And how are you feeling?" Koko asked blandly. The girl had her borrowed phone out already, typing out a response.

 _Fine_ , Black Rock Shooter lied.

The bizarre girl was a mess. One of her arms had a thick mass of bandaging coating the entire limb, from just under her elbow to her wrist. The other was only slightly less covered, leaving many patches of beige over her pale skin. A thick mass of covering wrapped around her stomach where she was slashed, along with another band around one leg. To top it off a thick band encircled her head. It seemed like half of her skin had some form of covering on it. A thin IV line went from her forearm to a plastic bag hanging above her, making Koko wonder how much trouble the doctor had getting in in.

"I can see that. Lutz told me you tried to strangle Dead Master, so they had to put you in different rooms. Is that right?" she asked. Black Rock Shooter rolled her eyes and nodded.

"Stubborn" she commented. She took the few steps to her bedside and lowered herself onto the bed. Without looking she reached for the back of the bed, where a nondescript clipboard awaited. Valmet got to it first, taking it off its magnetic hook to hand over to the pale woman. Once it was in her hands Koko scanned over the paper document.

"Lets see...broken left arm, broken right arm, six cracked ribs, fractures in both legs, slash wound on the torso, light concussion, broken knuckles for both hands, lacerations all over the right arm, and a ruptured lung. Only one thing I want to know: was it worth it?" Koko asked, all trace of humor gone.

Without so much as a second of hesitation, Black Rock Shooter forcefully nodded.

"If you say so" Koko commented, setting the clipboard down.

"Good news is that we're leaving shortly. Five hours from now we'll be airborne, heading to London International. Bad news is...I'm taking Dead Master with us" she said quickly, already wincing. The girl's scowl was near instantaneous, twisting into a snarl. If it wasn't for her level of injury, she would've broke something.

"I know, I know. But, since she's still alive I don't want to leave her here. She caused enough trouble. I'm not asking you to like it, just...trust me. Can you do that?" Koko asked sympathetically. Her scowl didn't subside much, but she did slowly nod.

"Thanks. I owe you a gallon of ice cream for this" she said gratefully, rising from the bed to face the other two's questions.

"How exactly did you get out of this mess?" Valmet asked at last. Koko sighed under her breath.

"It's complicated. I'll explain the whole thing later, but for now just get ready to leave" she ordered. Sparing a look at Jonah, she saw he was unfazed by the new development. Thinking it over she decided that cuddling could wait for later, to her disappointment.

With that squared away she strolled out of the room, avoiding bumping into the huddled Huey. Externally she paid him no mind, not even looking his direction. Koko guessed he was eavesdropping on her conversation anyway, which was part of the reason she went to Black Rock Shooter first, besides checking on her well being. A semi insane plan was formulating in her mind, the only remaining piece of the puzzle was in the next room. What she learned in there would be her new course of action for the near future.

"Hey Koko" R greeted once more, still leaning in the doorframe of the room.

"Hey. Sorry about that" she said apologetically, but he waved it off.

"Had to check on her first, I get it" he dismissed. He got off the frame to let her through.

Koko looked at that bed and nearly gasped. The Dead Master she encountered in the cafe was almost unrecognizable in her current state. Instead of her black lolita dress she had a plain hospital gown on. Like Black Rock Shooter bandages covered much of her body, with a large concentration on her head. An oxygen mask was clamped over her face, and a monitor steadily recorded her heartbeat. Her hands were bare, showing human palms that were only slightly longer than an average persons. The only thing she saw in common to earlier was the ribbed horns atop her head.

"Damn" she murmured.

"No kidding" the comment caught her by surprise. Looking to one of the guest chairs, she found that she was so engrossed by the girl's state that she didn't pick up on Tojo's presence.

"How bad?" Koko asked. The japanese man was busy clacking away on his laptop, perhaps recording his observations.

"She looks a lot worse than what she is. A ton of minor injuries, but beyond the cracked cheekbone nothing really bad. The gunshots though, that did a number on her" he reported. She glanced back at the unconscious girl, wondering what he meant.

"The doctors said blood loss and possibly shock. She's stable now though, not sure if thats a good thing. By the way she's type-O" he said banally. Koko nodded, then she did a double take at him, looking dumbfounded.

"They got to her before I did, by the time I got there they already did a transfusion. It worked. If there are negative effects they're either minor or haven't taken ahold yet. And yeah, I'm just as confused as you are" he agreed.

From the door a sputtered gasp sounded out, grabbing both of the adults's attentions.

"H-how!?" Huey choked out, blocked by a suspicious R. One gesture by Koko and he reluctantly moved to let him in.

"Hey, isn't he..." Tojo trailed off, wrinkling his brow.

"He is yes. Names Huey. Now what do you mean how?" Koko questioned sternly. The boy gulped, trying to compose himself.

"She-Dead Master. She's an alien" he managed to say. Behind him R wrinkled his brow as well. Tojo and Koko exchanged looks.

"Could you explain that?" the former asked.

"Well...I mean...look at her" he waved a hand at the girl "she's faster and stronger than any human. She can create weapons out of thin air. That other one, Shooter? She can too, I saw her. There's no way they're from this planet" his words tumbled out. The three adults blinked.

"He has a point" R commented.

"Yeah. I guess. Haven't really considered it before, but I guess he's right" Tojo said after a moment of thought. Koko bobbed her head in agreement.

"Unless I'm mistaken, you arranged this whole thing to get information from me about them, right?" she asked. Huey shakily nodded, which she frowned at.

"Time for some candidness I guess. We...really don't know where they come from" she admitted. He gaped, unable to believe his ears.

"A few months back we were in Brussels, and this black ball formed in our hotel bathroom out of nowhere. A few minutes later Black Rock Shooter tumbled out, and after jumping out a window and getting hit by a bus we grabbed her and cleared out. Checked back later and there was no sign of it" R explained. His dumbstruck gaze swiveled to each of them, which they shrugged apologetically to.

"Honestly kid, you probably know more than we do" Tojo said. Huey moved, dragging his feet in a stumble to collapse into a free chair. He had the look of someone who just found out everything he knew was a lie. In a way it was.

"That said..." Koko started, making him numbly pick his head up.

"We're taking Dead Master with us. Back in the cafe she did defer to you, at least until the situation went fubar. You were the first to find her here, right?" she asked carefully. Huey slowly shook his head.

"No. There were a couple of guys. Thugs. She killed them. My brother is the one who did first I think" he said, his voice hollow.

"But you've been studying her this whole time, right?" Koko pressed. He tipped his head forward.

"That settles it. Huey Freeman, would you like to accompany me for a while?" she asked suddenly, causing both men to double take. He looked up to her, utterly baffled.

"Black Rock Shooter doesn't like her, and she has no reason to trust me or my men. I'm figuring a familiar face might help her adjust" she elaborated.

"You w-want me to come with you" he said confusedly.

"Not for any great length of time. One month, two at most. Sound good?" Koko asked. His head slumped, his emotions warring within him.

"I-I...I don't know what to say" he half mumbled.

"Koko, can I speak to you for a second? Alone" R hesitantly asked her.

Seeing the look in his eye she walked after him, leaving Huey alone in the room with Tojo and Dead Master, still blissfully asleep.

"Nervous?" Tojo asked. Huey nodded.

"I don't even know where to-" an insistent peeping sounded from his pocket. The bespectacled man neutrally watched at the boy extracted the ringing phone from his front pocket to put it to his ear.

"Hello-" he immediately winced, yanking the phone away from his ear. Tojo couldn't make out the speaker's words, but he could tell his emotion: indignant anger. It took several seconds for him (at least he assumed it was a he, the speaker did sound a little like a girl) to lower their voice down enough for the youth to put it back to his ear.

"Riley, Riley, calm down, listen. Listen to me. Are you? Yeah I know. He got you out of there didn't he? Now, listen. I need you to do something for me. Pass along a message" he said, making Tojo catch on.

"Alright. Tell Grandad I'm...tell Grandad I'm going to be leaving for a while. A month, maybe two, I don't know. No matter what, Dead Masters gone. Out of our lives for good. No, well, yeah lets go with that. It'll be simpler that way. Just, pass that along. Caesar, Jazmine, anyone who asks. Can you do that for me? I don't know. I wish I did. See you bro" Huey finished, clicking the phone off. He looked over to see the japanese man's eyes were on him.

"What did I do?" he quietly asked. Tojo wasn't sure if the question was meant for him or for himself.

Outside, R checked the hallway for anyone eavesdropping before he turned to Koko, sighing at her patient smile.

"Look, I, um" he sighed again, massaging the bridge of his nose "you know, I don't like second guessing you, after all the-" his rant was cut off by Koko swiping a hand.

"I understand R. You think this is a bad call, and I'm not going to argue with that" she said simply. R sighed for the third time, cursing on the inside.

"You guys had doubts when I brought Jonah aboard" she pointed out.

"That's different. Jonah was hired, he had skills. This kid laid a trap to extort you" he countered. Her damnable smile never changed.

"For information, nothing more. Besides, its not like I'm keeping him. Just long enough for me to decide what to do with Dead Master. Once that's done I'm shipping him back here and washing my hands of this mess" Koko explained.

"I'm not stopping you boss. I'm not arguing either. I just don't think this is a good idea" R said sourly. She put a hand on his shoulder.

"It's okay. Look at this way, a few months from now we can all look back on this and laugh. Remember Major Pollack?" she asked jokingly. He smiled too, nodding as her hand fell away.

"I do. But all the same, I'm going to be keeping an eye on him" he said.

"Wouldn't have it any other way. I got to schedule a flight, talk to you later?" Koko offered. He bobbed his head and walked back into the hospital room.

With that obstacle out of the way, Koko reached to her pocket, only to feel her smartphone already buzzing.

 _Hay Koko watchu doin?_ went the email. Again Koko smiled at Miami's simplistic text.

 _Finishing up. I'm heading to London tonight_ , she texted. Several seconds later another email popped up.

 _Teh final launch at the solomon islands is in a few days wanna come?_ Dr. Miami asked from halfway around the world. Koko's eyes widened in surprise.

 _Oops I forgot about that. I'll be there_ , she promised.

She closed her email to set up her traveling plans, only go be interrupted by a phone call. Koko was tempted to hit mute, but seeing Schokolade's caller ID changed her mind.

"Hey Schokolade, sorry but this isn't the best time" she said regretfully, knowing how much fun it was to talk to the american agent.

"Koko listen, this is important" the woman said quickly, catching her off guard. No trace of amusement was in her tone.

"You have my attention" she said carefully.

"Is there a chair nearby? You're going to need it" she pressed. Koko looked around to find none, trusting in her steady nerves.

"I'll be fine. Whats wrong?" she asked.

"I got some intel from another department. They found a new one" Schokolade said quickly. Koko's blood froze, but she had to make sure.

"A new one?" she asked hoarsely.

"Another Blake" their informal code name for Black Rock Shooter "they don't know what they got. I suggest you head over as fast as you can and get her before they figure it out" she said urgently. Koko spared a look at the hospital room apprehensively.

"I'll do that. Where's this one located?" Koko checked, already making plans to spirit the horned girl out of the country. What came from the phone's speaker stopped all of those plans instantaneously.

"Southeastern Asia. Thailand."


	10. Chapter 10

**A/N: Whats this? An epilogue? Lets see what's here.**

* * *

 _Dubai, noon..._

Police Captain Hussein Ali stared flatly at his 'guest', his fingers drumming on his lacquered pine desk.

"Mister Adeeb. Welcome" he said in english, without an ounce of sincerity. The portly bespectacled american smiled warmly, extending his hand to shake. Despite his misgivings Ali returned the gesture.

"I am grateful for your hospitality" he replied in flawless arabic, catching the captain off guard.

"I see" he murmured, releasing his hold to slid back into his hard chair. The man had to sit down carefully, at first glance because of his bulk. However, Ali saw more than that; his uncle suffered a debilitating back injury in his youth, and many of the same signs of that injury were in this man's body language.

"We can conduct this in arabic or english, its your decision" the man offered. Ali's opinion of the man was changing rapidly, not for the better. He could think of only one occupation that learning a foreign language, especially one like arabic, would be necessary.

"English will work. You are my guest here" he said after a moment of thought.

"Thank you" he said in kind. The man readjusted his seat before continuing.

"As you've probably assumed, I am in the US intelligence services" the portly man started. Ali nodded, his suspicions proven right.

"On behalf of the Dubai metropolitan police department, It'd be my pleasure to render assistance to you" he said carefully. Angering an intelligence agent, especially one was as polite as the one in front of him, was considered a poor move.

"Again, thank you. I'm here concerning an incident that occurred here approximately three months ago. A gun battle with two assassins" he started. Ali's hard frown shifted to regret, very little of it faked.

"Yes, that. An unpleasant affair from start to finish. As far as I know however, no americans were killed in the attack" he replied questionably.

"There wasn't. My interest and the reason I'm here lies with the intended victim" the agent explained. Ali pursed his lips.

"A pale woman, correct?" he nodded "At the time I had suspicions that she was involved with illegal activities. But I could find nothing solid" he said.

"The woman's name is Koko Hekmatyr. You're right, she's involved with the arms trade" he admitted.

"I knew it" Ali said vindictively.

"My agency's been on her tail for the past two years. Shortly, we're going to launch a sting operation to put her behind bars" the agent told him. A glint in his eye raised Ali's suspicions.

"But that's not the whole reason I'm here. During your investigation, you interrogated her bodyguards, correct?" he asked. For anyone else he would've been offended at the implication he didn't, but he knew the man was just fact checking. It was what intelligence operatives did.

"Of course. I found some details off about them, mainly concerning where they acquired their weapons" he answered.

"Did any of them strike you as...strange?" the agent asked carefully. Ali turned his head to the side in thought. All of the woman's men were strange in one way or another, from the black man who was on the FBI's wanted list to the ex-cop who was apparently used to be in special operations, and that was ignoring the boy he was certain had military training. But one stood out in stark relief from the others in her strangeness.

"They all did, but there was one in particular. A young girl, I would guess fourteen or fifteen years of age. Her manner, everything about her really" he answered contemplatively.

"Go on" he urged.

"During the interrogation she did not say a word to the officer. He told me he was unnerved by her presence. But I had to let her go with the rest of them, so I couldn't see for myself. I did run her photo through Interpol though. No results" he explained. The agent nodded thoughtfully.

"I see. Thanks for your help" he said abruptly, rising from his chair. Ali did the same, his hard frown returning.

"Before you leave, I want to know. Who was that girl?" he questioned.

The agent stared blankly at him for a moment, trying to decide the level of truth he should reveal. He made up his mind, drawing an agency phone from the inside of his coat. A few seconds were needed to unlock the complicated security system, a few more to request the data from Langley. He showed the phone's screen to Ali, flipping through pictures every few seconds. The captain's expression went from displeased to bafflement, seeing the pictures that, on the face of it, looked doctored. His rational mind refused to accept they were real.

"I promise you, each and every photo you see is the unvarnished truth" he said, pulling the phone back to replace it.

"Those were..." he shook his head, anger bubbling to the surface.

"I swear on my son's life they were real. Captain, that girl your man interrogated wasn't human" he stated flatly. Ali's jaws stopped working, and he needed a second to clamp his mouth shut again.

"Why are you telling me this?" he growled.

"Who would believe you?" he replied simply. Ali blinked, realizing he was right.

"A fourth one was confirmed several days ago. My goal here was to determine how well, if at all, they can blend in to human society" he told him.

"Blend in? Are you saying...this is an invasion?" he asked disbelievingly. The agent smiled for the first time.

"I hope not. But the CIA doesn't believe in hope" he said wryly. Straightening up his tie, he went to the door as Ali slumped back into his chair. Before the door he paused, turning his head to the side to speak.

"A bit of advice. If you find another one, kill it. Burn the body if possible" he said.

With his mind already turning to the next stop, George Black, codename Bookman, left the police captain alone with his thoughts.

* * *

 _Praetor Hotel, Jakarta..._

The hotel door rattled under the abuse of the loud knocking. Weak morning sunlight streamed into the room, on its own not enough to rouse the sole occupant from his deep rest. The man had been told many times that he slept like the dead, something he always laughed off. It didn't change the fact he was a heavy sleeper. But when someone pounded the door as much as it was currently being done, even that had its limits. Groaning, the pale man rose from his bed. He had half a mind to tell off whoever it was that woke him up.

"Hey! You up yet!?" shouted his female bodyguard. Kaspar Hekmatyr yawned.

"I'm up!" Jeez" he said to himself, wiping his face with his palm. Grabbing his phone on the nightstand, he clicked it on to see the time, frowning at the display.

"Get dressed, you got a visitor!" Chiquita yelled.

"Its quarter to six, who the hell wants to meet with me!?" he yelled back. His schedule for the week was planned out several days earlier, and he was quite sure nothing in it involved getting woken up at the crack of dawn.

"See for yourself! Try to look decent!" Chiquita commanded.

Grumbling insults, Kaspar pushed himself out of the bed. He debated with himself whether or not to take a shower, but his irritation with the guest combined with a lack of patience made him abandon that idea. Instead he went with throwing on a slightly used business suit from the day before, rather than a freshly cleaned one. He did take a moment to put on some deodorant, after making the mistake of experimentally sniffing his armpits. The entire process only took a few minutes, helped primarily by avoiding most of his normal hygiene routine. Giving himself one more check, he decided it was good and went to the door.

"There you are" Chiquita said as he opened it. Even through the thinning fog of sleep Kasper noticed her perpetual bemusement was missing this time.

"Alright, whoever this is better have a...good...reason..." his formerly irritated voice faded away when he finally saw the individual standing in the center of the room, with all four of his bodyguards around her, keeping a safe distance.

The being turned her head to his direction, something akin to curiosity on her features. She wore a bikini top, a pair of hot pants, and a long coat that went to the back of her knees, just like someone else he knew of. Unlike her, there was a significant amount of red in her clothes. On her feet was a pair of high heeled boots that went halfway up her shins. She had an ethereal beauty to her, even though her flat black hair was topped by a pair of curved horns, also tinted red.

"Huh" was his most coherent response.

"Heard a thump during our patrol earlier, went to check it out" Allan reported tersely. Kaspar realized then that he was so caught up by the girl that he didn't notice that every one of them had their P90 SMGs trained on her.

"Yeah, thought it was an explosion until we got there. Found her in the hallway with some dust scattered around. Brought her back here" Edgar added.

"You guys did the right thing" Kaspar absently praised. He started to walk closer to her, but Chiquita grabbed his shoulder.

"And what do you think you're doing?" she asked sternly. He flashed a smile.

"You said I had a visitor" he reminded. Her grip on him relaxed, but not her grip on her gun.

Taking a deep breath, Kaspar walked close to the being to drop to one knee a few feet from her, her ruby red eyes tracking his every move.

"Hi there" he greeted carefully. The girl tilted her head a few degrees to the side.

"Do you understand me?" he asked, unconsciously holding his breath. A heavy silence descended over the hotel room.

"Yes" she answered at last, her tone exacting. Kaspar forced the breath through his nostrils to hide his relief.

"What's your name?" he asked first.

The corners of her mouth tilted upwards into a reserved grin.

"Why should I tell you my name when I don't know yours?" she asked playfully. He blinked, caught by surprise.

"Well, I guess that's fair. I'm Kaspar Hekmatyr. Thats Chiquita" he pointed to the sole woman in the room "and thats Poe, Edgar, and Allan" he pointed to each of the men by name. Her unearthly gaze went to each one in turn.

"That's who we are. And yours?" he asked again.

"That's fair. My name is Black Gold Saw" she answered.

Kaspar grinned.

"Poe, can you make a pot of tea?" he called out. The man gave him a baffled glance, gulping nervously.

"S-sure" he answered nervously, reluctantly lowering his weapon to head to the kitchen.

"What is tea?" Black Gold Saw questioned. Kaspar rose back to his feet, his earlier gripes forgotten.

"Why don't you take a seat and find out? You and I have an enlightening conversation ahead of us" he proposed. Her grin twitched upwards.

"Why not?" she agreed.

* * *

 **A/N: Hurray! This bomb is finally concluded. Next week or two I'll post the third arc to this tale, "The Coming Dawn." If you actually read this whole thing through, then thank you dear reader.**


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